Blow Away
by L.M. Avalon
Summary: Policeman Inuyasha unearths a conspiracy at his precinct, and he puts himself, his wife, and everyone they meet at risk as he digs deeper to see just how far it all goes. AU. Inu/Kag.
1. with a heart full of mess and lore

Lyrics and title comes from the song _Blow Away _by A Fine Frenzy.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

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><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Prologue: with a heart full of mess and lore

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><p><em>It blows into smoke<br>__The time we waste  
>Swallowed into space<br>__It's the time it takes to blow  
><em>_It's the ride we take  
>The many winged escape<br>__It's the bough we break to blow  
><em>_It's the times we say  
><em>_That no one's gonna take your place  
><em>_It's a mistake to blow away_

_We blow away_

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><p>They grew up across the street from one another.<p>

Kagome could vaguely remember them playing together as children—riding bikes around the cul-de-sac, drawing in chalk on the sidewalk, playing tag under the sun. It wasn't just them alone; there was often other children from around the neighborhood as well.

It wasn't until they turned ten years old that she really noticed Inuyasha. Her father had just died in a car accident, so she and her brother were left with only their mother, possibly the sweetest woman who had ever lived, and their grandfather. Kagome had thought of Inuyasha as she stood in the family parlor, dressed head-to-toe in black as she mechanically thanked dozens of people she didn't know for coming to the wake and bringing casseroles with them. She thought of him because she remembered that the little boy across the street had also lost his daddy not too many years earlier. Without a second thought and without a word to her mother, Kagome left her house, walked down her driveway, crossed the street, walked up the driveway across from hers, and knocked on the front door.

It was answered by the most beautiful woman she had ever seen—tall and elegant with silky, black hair so long that it never seemed to end. The woman had kind eyes and a gentle smile. As soon as Kagome saw this sympathetic face, she burst into tears. Izayoi crouched down and took the little girl into her arms. Soon, they were joined by Inuyasha, who hovered uncertainly at his mother's elbow.

"It gets better," he promised solemnly, studying the sobbing little girl with understanding eyes. "As long as you have your mom, it gets better."

For the next four years, the two children were inseparable. They built a tree house together, camped in their backyards under the stars, and walked into one another's homes without knocking as though they belonged there. Their mothers looked on with knowing smiles, pleased with how their children grew from cute to blossoming to adolescent attractiveness. Even as they went through school and gathered new friends around them, the two stayed best friends. Kagome became sweet and compassionate while Inuyasha became arrogant and impulsive, but their personalities complemented each other. Kagome would placate Inuyasha who would in turn push her to be more outgoing. Inuyasha gave her their first kiss, and Kagome swore to stay by his side no matter what.

But then Izayoi died.

Inuyasha was sent to live with his much older half-brother, a man who lived an entire city away. At first, he and Kagome kept in contact, writing to each other every week, then every month, then twice a year, and then, finally, never. Kagome grew into a beautiful young woman with caring blue-gray eyes much like her late father's and untamable black hair that she pulled back in a ponytail every morning rather than forcing it into something stylish. Inuyasha grew into a ruggedly handsome man, tall with broad shoulders and capable hands, physically striking because of his remarkable coloring that he shared with his half-brother and father—warm, amber-brown eyes and hair so blond that it was practically white.

Kagome went into pre-med and became a promising young intern at Tokyo's largest hospital, hoping to become a pediatrician one day.

Inuyasha went into law enforcement, following in his father's footsteps.

When he was twenty-six years old, Inuyasha responded to a report of domestic violence. A man in a rundown apartment was going through meth withdrawal and had been drinking heavily. When Inuyasha, outraged, stepped into the brawl after the man backhanded his girlfriend, the addict—already on edge—shot Inuyasha in the shoulder with a pistol he had been hiding under his shirt. After Inuyasha's partner, a senior officer named Byakuya, tackled and arrested the man, Inuyasha was taken to the nearest hospital. Kagome happened to be working one of her mandatory emergency room shifts that night, a requirement that she had to complete during her residency at the hospital.

It was, as onlookers could attest to, love at first (re)sight.

Seven months later, as Inuyasha completed his physical therapy to rehabilitate his shoulder and Kagome continued with her residency, the two were married in a very small ceremony at the courthouse downtown.

This is not the story.

This is only the beginning.


	2. off alone into the great unknown

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

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><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter One: off alone into the great unknown

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><p>His favorite time to work was at night when the precinct was down to only a bare bones staff, a skeleton crew. Inuyasha was well-aware of how his fellow officers saw him; they admired his dedication, his instincts, his skill, but they also respected his gruff demeanor by keeping their distance. The department shrink once tried to explain to him that he kept people at arm's length because he was afraid to get close to anyone, afraid to lose them like he had lost his parents—Inuyasha thought this was a load of crap.<p>

When he loved, he loved fiercely. Unfortunately, very few seemed to deserve that kind of affection. He enjoyed being left to his own devices, which led to him working faster and harder than he would have if he had to worry about small talk with coworkers. It was also true, he had to admit, that police were loyal to each other to a fault—you hurt one and you hurt them all—but cops also had to know that they were always in danger. The uniform painted a target on their backs, and it was only logical to not get too attached to anyone who might not be there the next day.

He made up for this somewhat antisocial behavior with an outstanding work ethic. Inuyasha closed more cases than any other officer in his jurisdiction. Never had he hesitated to act if it meant saving someone. A promotion had been dangled in front of him twice, but both times he had turned his superiors down. Inuyasha preferred working the streets. He wasn't afraid of a fight or getting his hands dirty; being stuck behind a desk as a detective sounded like torture to him. The only thing Inuyasha was afraid of was paperwork—and he'd have plenty of that to do no matter what position he held.

His desk was almost always empty. The only personal touch consisted of two framed photographs set up next to one another. One picture was worn and faded, obviously old. In it was a beautiful, delicate-looking woman with long, flowing hair and gentle eyes—his mother. The other photograph was much more recent, only five months old in fact, picturing a pair of newlyweds. The man—Inuyasha—was wearing a pressed officer's uniform, which he felt more comfortable in than he would have in a tux. The woman was dressed in only a simple sheath dress, but her smile was so radiant that she could have worn anything and still turned heads. They looked happy. They still were.

Inuyasha had brought the frames to work to remind himself not only of what was worth fighting for—his wife's face sparked in him a powerful desire to make the world safe for her—but also that he was not alone and never would be again.

"Hello?" he asked tiredly, picking up his ringing phone and pressing it very loosely to his ear. His other hand continued to scribble across a form, his handwriting scratchy and barely legible. "Yeah, it's me. Sure, I can grab that. I'll leave it on your desk? Yeah. Okay. Don't worry about it." Inuyasha hung up and began to gather his things, slipping his wallet into his back pocket and snatching his keys. He left the form in the middle of his desk; it would still be waiting for him the next morning. With purposeful strides, he left the room—nodding to the two other men behind their own desks as he went—and made his way to the staircase. The basement was three flights down. With a grunt to the man guarding the door, which was always kept locked, he signed his name on the clipboard, noticing offhandedly that his partner's name was signed on the line above his own.

What was Byakuya doing in the evidence room? Why was his name signed in so many times?

Shrugging it off, Inuyasha walked in to grab the box, MX18069, from the shelves to leave on his coworker's desk. Somehow, Jinenji had known he'd be working late and had managed to catch Inuyasha at his desk to ask a favor. Inuyasha couldn't turn Jinenji down—the big lug caught so much crap from his coworkers, who took his slow drawl and placid nature to mean he wasn't right in the head, that even Inuyasha was moved to sympathy. (Kagome would be so proud.) Jinenji never said why, but the giant man refused to go down to the evidence rooms; Inuyasha thought it was because it was always so empty and chilly that it was a little creepy.

As he scanned the shelves for the right label, Inuyasha noticed a mechanical whirring noise from deeper within the room. It was distracting enough that he stopped what he was doing, straining his ears to hear more. Footsteps, mumbling… Someone else was in there with him. The only other person signed in that night was Byakuya.

Taking care to tread softly, Inuyasha walked past several rows, peering into the dimness to find his partner. There, in the back corner, he noticed a tall, slim figure.

"Hey," Inuyasha called out, surprised when Byakuya jumped, startled by the greeting.

"I-Inuyasha," the other officer replied, his voice stumbling over the first syllable. The man cleared his throat, discreetly setting something down on the table behind him.

As Inuyasha approached, he noticed a small machine plugged in at Byakuya's feet. A paper shredder? "I thought you said you hated working late," the pale-haired man said, his eyes still on the machine. "What are you doing down here so late at night?" There was a noticeable lull in this exchange, and when Inuyasha looked back up at his partner, he noticed how… off… Byakuya looked. "You okay, man?"

"Fine," the guy snapped but then took a deep shuddering breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Flu or something."

Inuyasha nodded vaguely, but his eyebrows drew together in the middle of his forehead over narrowed eyes. "Sure," he agreed conversationally. Careful examination showed him that the other man was short of breath, even though he was standing still, and had a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Dark, heavy bags hung beneath bloodshot eyes. "Is that the paper shredder from the break room?"

Again, Byakuya hesitated before answering. His voice was hoarse and came off defensive and angry. Inuyasha and Byakuya had never been close. Over the past year, they had barely spoken, choosing to focus their energy on keeping alert while on the job instead. Even stakeouts were shrouded in silence. When it counted, though, they had each other's backs. Inuyasha was forever in debt for the time his new-at-the-time partner took down the man who had shot him in the shoulder. Not only had Byakuya saved his life, but that interaction had led to him finding Kagome again. Still, Inuyasha was unsettled.

"Think I have a fever," Byakuya was explaining now, his heavy lids and sweaty face reinforcing the answer. "Needed to get somewhere colder, but I still had some work to get done. Just shredding some old paperwork for the chief."

Inuyasha nodded, his eyes darting between his partner and the paperwork, which Byakuya had carefully shielded with his body. "I'm just grabbing a box for Jinenji to use tomorrow," the younger officer explained unnecessarily, for once feeling the need to fill the silence with inane chatter. "I'll… uh, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Byakuya agreed.

Without a backward look, Inuyasha walked away, located his box, checked it out at the front, and left. After depositing the evidence on Jinenji's desk, he made his way to his car, concerned about the feeling nagging his brain.

* * *

><p>"Honey, I'm—!"<p>

"Finish that sentence," Kagome interrupted, appearing in the kitchen doorway, "and I will smack you." In one hand, covered with an oven mitt, she held a casserole dish, and in her other hand, she was clenching her cell phone. She had a slightly irritated and exhausted look on her face.

Indicating the phone with a tilt of his head, Inuyasha asked, "Eri, Ayumi, or Yuka?"

"Eri, of course," Kagome clarified, turning around to head back into the kitchen. She briefly lifted the phone back to her mouth, hummed a noncommittal agreement, and then set the phone back down. Faintly, Inuyasha could hear a small voice continue to chatter on the other end of the line. "That girl can talk," his wife mumbled, setting both items she was holding onto the counter. "How was work?"

"The usual," Inuyasha said dismissively, shrugging off Byakuya's face as it came to the forefront of his mind. He opened the fridge and fished out a beer from the sparse contents. "You need to go shopping."

"I just worked a double shift," Kagome pointed out stubbornly. "_You_ go shopping."

"We'll both go shopping, together." Inuyasha passed her on his way to the trash can to toss the bottle cap away and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "How are the kids?"

"Someday when you ask that, you'll mean our own kids and not the ones at the hospital. Three were able to go home, which was great. Got a new patient today, a little boy named Shippou. Cutest thing I've ever seen, bushy red hair and wearing tiny overalls."

"What's wrong with him?"

Kagome retrieved a knife and began to cut their dinner into small squares, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. "I'm not sure. We had to keep him for overnight observation. He's much smaller than he should be at his age."

Inuyasha made an unintelligible noise in the back of his throat and collapsed in a chair at the kitchen table. He fiddled with the beer label, tearing one corner. "If anyone can figure out what's wrong, you can."

"Your faith in me is astounding," Kagome told him with a brilliant smile tossed casually over her shoulder.

For a moment, he didn't answer, choosing instead to take in her features. She was, as she always had been, the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Even tired after a full day's work, she had bright eyes and a full smile, looking fresh and young in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Cooking was not her forte, but as long as she stuck to simple recipes, it was always good. They alternated nights with who was cooking and who was picking up take-out; whoever got off first was in charge of feeding the other. "I only give credit where credit is due and not even then sometimes," he admitted to her finally, pulling himself out of his strange reverie.

Kagome heaped food onto two plates and hoisted them up, spinning on her heel to face her husband. "So, are we being good and eating at the table or are we eating in front of the television tonight?"

"Television, definitely," Inuyasha declared, taking the plates from her hands and starting toward the living room. "Oh, hey, don't forget Eri."

"Shoot!" Kagome exclaimed, reaching for her phone. Inuyasha watched as she put it to her ear, hovered uncertainly for a few moments, and then she finally released a gust of relieved breath. _She's still there_, his wife mouthed with an exasperated smile. "Eri—Eri? Hey," Kagome interrupted, her voice light and friendly. "Inuyasha just got home; we're going to eat dinner. Tomorrow? Sure, sounds great. You, too. Bye!" Snapping her phone shut, Kagome deliberately left it on the counter with an expression that said she was done with phones for the night. "So what do you have in mind?" she then directed at her husband, joining him on his way to the couch. "That new police drama?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "They never get anything right on those shows. I was thinking a movie."

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

><p>The following day, Byakuya wasn't at work. "Called in sick," someone explained when they noticed Inuyasha openly staring at his partner's desk.<p>

That was why it was so weird when much later that night, after most people had gone home for the day, Inuyasha ran out to his car to get something and noticed that Byakuya's car was parked in the darkest corner of the parking lot. On a hunch, Inuyasha retreated back inside and descended the three flights of precinct stairs to the basement. It was a different officer guarding the door this time, one Inuyasha wasn't as familiar with.

"State your business and sign in," the man ordered with a bored look on his face.

"I'm just checking on something. I won't be checking any evidence out," Inuyasha explained, frowning down at the sheet as he signed his name—once again, directly below Byakuya's signature.

A few steps inside, he stilled, listening for the mechanical whirl of the paper shredder. It was there. Tracking down his partner was easy since Byakuya was in the same spot as before. This time, the other officer was in even worse shape, panting heavily with sweat stains soaking the back of his t-shirt and underneath his arms. His hair was plastered to his forehead. He once again jumped when Inuyasha made his presence known with a simple "Hey."

Instead of acting shifty this time, Byakuya looked downright mutinous—turning heated, angry eyes on Inuyasha that burned with fever and spite. "What? What the hell could you want now?"

Quickly, Inuyasha reigned in his temper; he was always fast to jump to confrontations, but for once, he struggled to find the patience to keep calm. "Look, I just—What's going on? Are you alright?"

"I'm _fine_, damn it. Everything's fine," Byakuya reassured hastily. Unfortunately, there was nothing reassuring about his voice, which was nothing short of wheezing. "I just needed to finish up my work since I was gone today." Inuyasha glanced down, straining to see what was written on the paperwork in the dim lighting. Almost immediately, Byakuya crumpled up the top sheet of paper in a fist, placing his other hand on Inuyasha's chest and shoving. "Back off," he snapped. "Stop looking into this."

His temper rising, Inuyasha knocked the other man's hand away. Even on his bad days, he could take Byakuya—and right then, Byakuya looked like a sick and dying man. "You're my partner," Inuyasha pointed out stubbornly. "I just want to help."

With surprising strength, Byakuya shoved Inuyasha again. Startled, the pale-haired man stumbled backwards several feet before catching himself on a shelf. "I don't need help," Byakuya told his partner in a low voice. "Get out of here."

Subconsciously, Inuyasha wrapped his fingers into a tight fist, ready to take a swing at him. "I'll figure it out," he warned.

"You better not pursue this."

"Are you threatening me?" Inuyasha demanded, taking a step forward to close some of the space that had opened up between them.

"Yes," Byakuya confirmed. He opened his mouth to say something else but broke into a body-racking cough, bending double at the waist. When he removed his hand from where it was covering his mouth, they both were both surprised to see blood speckling his skin. For a moment—barely a second—Inuyasha watched a look of fear cross his partner's features before Byakuya was snatching up all the paper and dumping it into an open sack on the table; he even emptied the shredded remains from the machine. Yanking the cord from the wall and looping the strap of the sack over his shoulder, Byakuya shoved past Inuyasha, purposely knocking shoulders with him. "Drop it," he repeated, the fear fully replaced with anger.

After his footsteps had faded, his departure confirmed by the clanging of the locked gate, Inuyasha followed at a more leisurely pace. Once at the entrance, he noticed the guard reading a magazine. Stealthily, Inuyasha flipped through the past several sign-in sheets, noting how many times Byakuya had checked into the evidence room. His signature appeared dozens of times over the past few months but with more frequency during the past week.

Inuyasha was used to going with his instincts, but this time nothing was making any sense—in his brain or his gut. The drive home was still and quiet. There weren't even any passing cars heading the other way to break through the darkness of the night with their headlights. When he got home, he was surprised by the eerie silence of his own house. A wrapped plate of meatloaf was sitting on the counter, waiting for him next to a scrap of paper that simply had a heart drawn on it in red marker.

With a faint smile, Inuyasha put the plate away in the fridge, his stomach knotted with worry rather than hunger. In the bedroom, all the lights were off, and Kagome was sleeping soundly. He kicked off his shoes and quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before crawling into bed next to his wife.

Inuyasha did not sleep well that night.

The next morning, as he approached his desk, he noticed that many of the other officers had broken off into small groups around the room, everyone looking upset—angry, disturbed, even scared.

"What happened?" he asked Jinenji.

"They found Hakudoshi's body last night. There's a cop killer out there."

Inuyasha fell silent, glancing around the room until his gaze settled on Byakuya a few desks over—he looked better, more like himself, except for the black eye.


	3. and it's the time we waste

Think of this as the lull before the storm. ;]

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

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><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Two: and it's the time we waste

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><p>Halfway through the morning, in the middle of an unnervingly quiet patrol, Byakuya excused himself from the car to take a private call on his cell phone. Inuyasha watched him through the windshield from where he sat behind the steering wheel, his shoulders tense, trying to read his partner's body language. The other man looked upset, gesturing wildly and shouting into his phone. Discreetly, Inuyasha lowered his window two inches and strained his ears, but he couldn't catch any of the conversation. When Byakuya returned to the car, he explained abruptly that he had to leave for the rest of the day for "personal reasons."<p>

"Who am I supposed to patrol with?" Inuyasha asked, a tight leash on his voice. It came out strained and on the verge of petulant.

"Take a rookie," Byakuya commented offhandedly, buckling himself in and indicating the street with a sweep of his hand. "Drive."

His hands tight on the wheel, Inuyasha pulled away from the curb and eased the car into traffic at the next intersection. Resolutely, he kept his eyes on the road and refused to look at the other officer, noticing from the corner of his eye that Byakuya was staring out the passenger side window as if lost in thought. This position put his fresh, unexplained black eye on display. It wasn't as though the two men were trying to ignore their argument from the night before so much as they were trying to keep from picking it back up. The landscape outside rushed by. Buildings and trees blurred as the car passed them, and Inuyasha struggled to focus on their surroundings instead of the tumultuous situation he had found himself in.

"What do you think about Hakudoshi?" Inuyasha finally asked, the silence getting to him. For once, the radio was silent, no orders coming from the dispatcher. He was almost desperate enough to turn on music.

Byakuya slanted him a look, allowing a large pause to pass between the two as he studied his partner with guarded eyes. "Never liked the guy, but you know how cops are… Everyone will be out for blood now."

"I thought he was an okay kid," Inuyasha replied in a level voice.

"Too curious for his own good," Byakuya muttered darkly. He shifted then in his seat, and a look passed over his face that Inuyasha recognized as pain, as though the sudden movement has caused a fresh wave of it to pass through Byakuya's body.

The younger officer almost asked what was wrong on reflex but stopped himself just in time, remembering the past two nights. "And you don't like curious," Inuyasha pointed out, keeping his eyes on the road and his tone even so that Byakuya had nothing to read into.

"No, I don't."

The rest of the drive was silent, Inuyasha failing to come up with another topic of conversation. Thankfully, he pulled up to the curb outside the precinct in less than ten minutes. Even before he put the brake in place, Byakuya was already letting himself out of the car. He ducked his dark head back in and appraised Inuyasha in a way that made the pale-haired man feel on edge, tense, subconsciously squeezing his hands into fists on the steering wheel as though he sensed danger.

"I'll send the first rookie I see back out here. I'll let the chief know I had to take off early."

Inuyasha nodded.

Once Byakuya shut the door and was out of sight, Inuyasha released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Outside, sounds of the city worked themselves into a frenzy. People were streaming past on the sidewalk, mothers and fathers and children and teenagers and businessmen. The crowd itself was like a giant, pulsating organism, constantly moving, breathing, living. His restless night started to catch up with Inuyasha, working with his worry and fear to make him eye everything suspiciously. Even after devoting hours to thinking about it, he hadn't been able to come up with a rational explanation for why Byakuya had been so ill lately, why he was shredding paper late at night in a deserted room, or why the two—who had always worked efficiently with one another, even if they had never been close or even friendly—were suddenly so confrontational.

His musings were interrupted when the door popped open and Inuyasha's least favorite coworker—the youngest recruit, Hojo—piled into the car. This process took awhile since Hojo bumped his head against the top of the car when he tried to sit down as well as dropping everything he had craddled in his arms.

"Hi, Inuyasha," Hojo greeted in a friendly voice. He was so earnest and… _talkative_.

Stifling a groan, Inuyasha signaled before pulling out into traffic. "Buckle up, kid," he ordered. Inuyasha could already feel a headache brewing at his temples.

* * *

><p>"M-Ma'am? I'm going to need you to calm down," Hojo insisted with the barest hint of a tremor in his voice. He was holding out his hands like a makeshift shield and looked extremely young in his uniform.<p>

"Me calm down? You calm down!" the woman, a fiery brunette with sparking red-brown eyes, snapped at him. "I could break your wrists, little boy," she informed him seriously.

"You really s-shouldn't threaten an officer," Hojo told her earnestly. Always so earnest.

"I probably shouldn't shove one either," she told him, putting a hand tipped with long, red fingernails to his chest and giving him a small push.

Inuyasha, who had up until then been hanging back with a half-amused, half-appalled look on his face, finally came to Hojo's rescue. "Kagura—it was Kagura, right? You need to calm down. As in, _right now_, or I will arrest you for assaulting an officer."

"You call _him _an officer?" the woman, Kagura, demanded with disdain, tilting a stylish head of hair in the rookie's direction.

"Unfortunately," Inuyasha grumbled in a very low voice under his breath. "Yes," he corrected himself, louder. "He is an officer, and you just assaulted him. But if you cooperate, I promise not to arrest you."

Kagura sent him a narrow-eyed, very serious look. "I called you guys to help me, remember? I've just been robbed, and all you two seem to be doing is standing around asking a bunch of completely useless questions. So, I don't know, try being useful."

"Believe it or not, but asking questions actually helps us be useful," Hojo supplied helpfully. Both Inuyasha and Kagura sent dirty looks his way. Hojo was a legacy; his father had been the chief of police before the current chief, and the entire precinct had been excited when they heard the prodigal son had gone to the academy to become a police officer. The entire precinct had then been severely disappointed when the latest batch of rookies had arrived with Hojo in the middle of the group—young, small, too friendly Hojo. He was smart and nice, but cops needed to be made of tougher stuff.

Suddenly, Kagura's eyes, which had been focused on a point just over Inuyasha's shoulder, widened dramatically. "There! Him! That's him!"

When Inuyasha turned on his heel, he saw a skinny, dirty man hightailing it down the street, his pants and sweatshirt weighted down by stolen merchandise. Finally having an outlet for his frustration over recent events, Inuyasha took off—quickly leaving Hojo trailing behind. He dodged citizens, leapt over a guardrail surrounding an entrance to the subway, and was very quickly gaining ground on the perp. He narrowly missed colliding with a businesswoman before coming within reach of the fleeing man. Tensing, he pushed off from the ground and tackled the thief in the small of the back, taking him to the sidewalk with enough force to knock the wind out of both of them.

_Crack_.

"Shit," Inuyasha wheezed, feeling the thief struggle beneath the weight of his arms with a cry of alarm.

"My leg! _My leg_!" the guy was screaming, wriggling loose in order to wrap his arms around his leg, blood streaming around his fingers and collecting on the concrete beneath them.

"W-what happened?" Hojo called, coming closer to them at a slow jog, struggling to catch his breath. Several yards behind him was Kagura, going an impressive speed for a woman in a pencil skirt and five-inch heels.

"I, uh, I think I broke his leg."

"Crap," Hojo said, his eyes wide and terrified. Inuyasha wasn't sure, but he thought that might have been the first time in Hojo's life that he had ever uttered a curse word. "I'll call an ambulance. Do you know how much paperwork this means?"

* * *

><p>"Hey, do you know where I can find Dr. Higurashi?"<p>

The nurse sitting behind the desk looked up at Inuyasha, her mouth ready to respond—but she suddenly stilled, her mouth hanging open as she took in the man standing in front of her. A blush rising to her cheeks, the redhead smiled shyly up at him, her large green eyes suddenly framed by batting eyelashes.

"Ayame, isn't it? I think we met at the hospital holiday party last year," Inuyasha said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He was back in his street clothes and out of uniform, having been sent home early by the chief.

A relatively young man for the position—only in his early forties—Chief Naraku Onigumo had long, brown hair and cold, dead eyes. He had been the chief for nearly three years, but Inuyasha, as well as many of the other officers, still felt uncomfortable and unwelcomed in his office. When he had learned that Inuyasha had broken a petty shoplifter's leg in an unnecessary takedown, he'd dismissed the pale-haired officer for the rest of the day. There had been something about the conversation that had left Inuyasha even more unsettled than he should have been, even considering the fact that he had just been reprimanded and sent home prematurely. Naraku always left him feeling defensive, but it was worse after the older man had spent just as much time insulting him as he did silently studying him.

"I'm Kagome's husband? Inuyasha?" he prompted when Ayame continued to stare up at him adoringly.

Instantly, the batting eyelashes stopped. "Oh, yes, of course. I remember now. Kagome's down in pediatrics, room number two-hundred-sixteen."

After a beat passed where the nurse continued to look him up and down, Inuyasha mumbled a quiet, "Thanks," and walked away, knowing that her eyes were glued to his backside.

It was fairly easy to find the room Kagome was in, and Inuyasha was in the doorway in a matter of moments. As he had walked down the hall, he waved and smiled at all the kids, something that he admittedly wouldn't have done if there was anyone there who could have mistaken the actions as a sign of weakness. Once in the room, he leaned against the door jam and studied his wife, who hadn't noticed his arrival. She was perched on a stool next to a tiny, child-sized hospital bed, talking to a small, redheaded boy who was lying there. He had an IV stuck in the back of his hand, and there was a machine standing nearby that let off a steady beep. Other than that, you wouldn't have known he was sick. He was laughing and giggling, grinning up at his doctor with a look of adoration that Inuyasha recognized; Kagome elicited that kind of look from a lot of people.

"You're doing great, Shippou," Kagome praised, removing the stethoscope from her ears and looping it around her neck. "Your parents are going to be so proud!"

"Thanks, Kagome," the little boy—Shippou—responded in an adorable, little voice. "You're the greatest."

The dark-haired woman laughed and stood up, smiling warmly. "Oh, stop. If my husband finds out, he'll be jealous."

"I already am," Inuyasha announced from the doorway, startling his wife. She turned to him, her smile, if possible, growing larger. "Heya, squirt," he greeted the kid, walking by and ruffling the boy's reddish hair.

Shippou reached up and smoothed down his bangs with a peeved look on his face, but it was obvious to the grown-ups that he was struggling not to grin. "You must be the husband," he said, crossing his pudgy little arms over his chest. "Kagome's the best person in the entire world, so you better be taking care of her, mister."

"I swear on my life," the policeman said dramatically, wrapping an arm around Kagome's waist and tugging her to his side, "I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy."

The little boy studied the couple for a few seconds longer with a shrewd look on his face before nodding resolutely. "Okay. I guess you pass inspection."

"Gee, thanks," Inuyasha responded dryly, but he winked to show he was kidding around. "Do you have a minute?" he asked his wife.

"Sure, let me drop Shippou's chart off at the nurse's station, and then we can stop by my office."

"Have you always been that good with kids?" Inuyasha asked as they walked toward a familiar trio of women—Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, Kagome's best friends. His wife handed over the chart, and they all exchanged a quick flurry of hellos before Inuyasha gently guided Kagome away before the girls could get wrapped up in one of their extremely drawn-out conversations.

"Nope," Kagome told him jokingly, smiling up at him in a way that made his heart skip a beat, even after all their years together. "I just developed the skills this morning!"

In response, Inuyasha pulled her into an alcove, out of sight of passing eyes, and pressed a kiss to her nose, her cheek, and, finally, her lips. "Someday, you will make the most wonderful mother in the entire world."

"Someday," Kagome agreed, giving him a slow, lingering kiss back. "But not today. At least, not in a hospital hallway where I work," she told him, removing the hand from where it had somehow crept down to grip her waist. "We'll see how tired I am after work."

Inuyasha snorted with laughter and pushed off from the wall, taking her hand in his and guiding them back into the hallway en route to her office. "Prude," he teased affectionately.

"Practical," Kagome corrected. "Hey," she said suddenly, catching sight of a clock as they passed the break room. "What are you doing off so early?" She regretted her question when she saw a dark look pass over her husband's features. Supportively, she squeezed his hand and wrapped her fingers tighter around his own.

"I was a little over-enthusiastic at work today."

"Uh-oh," she said in a low voice. "What did you do this time?"

"Broke someone's leg."

"What?"

"It was shoplifter!" he defended himself immediately, but the way his voice rose an octave told Kagome he was feeling guilty about it. They reached her office, and she shut the door behind them. "It's been… it's been a rough couple of days. They found a cop's body this morning."

Kagome gasped, immediately wrapping her arms around Inuyasha's waist. "I'm sorry. That's awful! You guys caught the killer, right?"

"No, he's still out there."

Kagome buried her face into his chest, her grip tightening. Sometimes, she forgot how stressful it was being in love with a man who was around bad guys all day. "You said it's been a rough _couple _of days; what else is going on?"

There was an obvious hesitation that forced Kagome to pull away and look up into her husband's face. He looked worried, distressed even. She finally noticed the bags under his eyes and scolded herself for not being more perceptive sooner.

"Something's up with Byakuya. I don't know what, but the chief has him doing some weird things. Shredding paper late at night where no one would notice, for example."

"What kind of paper?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know. Looked like official forms, but I couldn't read them. Plus, he's been looking really sick lately, and he's lost at least twenty pounds in the past month. He didn't really have the weight to lose, either." Inuyasha stopped talking and seemed to be struggling internally before, finally, he asked quickly, "What makes you cough up blood?"

Kagome studied his face, flipping through her brain like it was an extremely cluttered notebook. "A lot of things, but I wouldn't be able to narrow it down before knowing more. It's not good. Think Byakuya would let me examine him?"

Inuyasha shook his head, his eyes downcast. "Definitely not. Things are have been bad between us."

"I bet," Kagome said, returning to her earlier position and pressing her cheek to his chest. She listened to his heartbeat for a full minute, the strong, steady thud reassuring her, steadying her. He was her rock, as he had been since that day so many years ago when she had gone to him and his mother for comfort as a little girl, looking for hope after her father's death. "Just be careful, okay? If there's something weird going on, you don't want to get mixed up in it."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he agreed, but his voice was distracted.

With a sigh, Kagome pushed away from him. "I have to get back to work. Why don't you head home, take a nap, and I'll pick up something to eat on my way home?"

Inuyasha nodded in agreement and kissed his wife goodbye.

* * *

><p>When he returned home, something was off.<p>

Inuyasha surveyed his house from the foyer, his eyes scanning the living room and hallway, looking for anything out of place. He hovered in the open doorway, his keys still in one hand, unable to pinpoint why he felt so alert and tense. After several minutes, nothing stood out, so he set his keys down and forced himself to take control of his nerves. The lack of sleep was getting to him, the stress making him paranoid. He shut the door behind him with a click and kicked off his shoes.

It wasn't until much later that night, after he'd eaten dinner and was lying next to his sleeping wife, that he realized that the deadbolt wasn't locked when he'd come home that afternoon.

They always remembered to throw the deadbolt.


	4. no one knows just how deep it goes

I had to end this chapter earlier than I planned, and it's _still_ longer than what I was aiming for. ;] Lucky for you guys, I guess.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

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><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Three: no one knows just how deep it goes

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><p>He knew he was staring.<p>

No matter how hard he tried—and he tried until his hands shook with the effort—Inuyasha could not tear his eyes away from the two men across the room. They were in Naraku's office, standing toe-to-toe and talking very seriously. Despite the fact that the chief's office was solid glass and viewable to everyone, no one else seemed to be paying them any attention. Seeing the two together, Inuyasha was struck by just how similar they looked; in fact, if he didn't know any better, he would think they were brothers. It had only recently dawned on him that he had never before seen Naraku and Byakuya speaking to one another. In fact, as he strained his memory to remember their past year together and the years beyond that he had been at the precinct, Inuyasha realized that it was almost as if Byakuya went out of his way to avoid Naraku. The pale-haired officer was always the one to hand in their reports or attend any meetings on behalf of the partners.

Byakuya had been on the force for several years before Inuyasha joined four years earlier, fresh from the academy at age twenty-two. The two weren't partnered until a year ago, just after Inuyasha turned twenty-five and just before he ran into Kagome again. Despite being the more senior officer, Byakuya let Inuyasha take the lead, which in most cases seemed to work out just fine. Now that the two were bumping heads, their dynamic was off.

There was no way around it—

Something was wrong.

Byakuya's sudden "illness," the late night paper-shredding in the evidence room, and now a meeting with the chief in broad daylight. Not to mention Hakudoshi's murder, Byakuya's unexplained black eye and sudden absences, and Naraku's sudden intense and constant scrutiny of Inuyasha. Everything had changed, practically overnight, and it made him feel unsteady.

Without warning, Naraku broke off the conversation with Byakuya and turned to look in Inuyasha's direction, their gazes meeting from across the room. Resolute, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and stared back, wary but determined to not back down. Several heavy seconds passed before Naraku severed eye contact, glancing away to toss a comment at Byakuya, who grabbed his coat from a chair and stormed from the office. Without looking Inuyasha's way again, Naraku sat in his seat behind his desk and began typing at his computer.

Feeling goose-bumps rising along his arms and the back of his neck in warning, Inuyasha turned away.

"Inuyasha," a low voice said at his elbow. The younger officer didn't have to look up to know that it was Byakuya. "Naraku wants us out of here—he thinks Hakudoshi's death is getting to some of us, and he wants us to take it easy. He doesn't want anyone starting a manhunt for the killer or anything."

"Sounds good to me," Inuyasha said, careful to keep his voice light. "We were only on desk duty anyway. See you tomorrow?"

The pause that followed forced Inuyasha to finally look away from his computer and up at his partner's face; Byakuya was standing very still, the flickering florescent bulbs of the precinct throwing shadows across his face that highlighted just how much weight the older man had lost. His cheeks were hollow, and his eyes looked swollen and dark.

"Yeah, of course. Tomorrow," Byakuya agreed. He hesitated again, licking his dry lips and allowing his eyes to search the room distractedly. "You going to spend the night in with that pretty, little wife of yours?"

A chill raced down Inuyasha's back, staying there, and he felt his shoulders tense up. He suddenly didn't like Byakuya talking about Kagome—something that had never bothered him in the past. But now, with all the uncertainty, it put him on edge. Thinking quickly, his mind coming up with a lie more sluggishly than he would have liked, Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Uh, no; Kagome's taking the rest of the day off and heading back home to visit her mom for the weekend. It'll just be me at the house."

"Well, that sucks, man," Byakuya said with a chuckle, walking past Inuyasha and patting him on the shoulder in a friendly way that seemed entirely out of place. "Hope you don't get lonely in that big, empty house of yours."

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha muttered absently, already scooping his things into his drawer to lock them up and grabbing his wallet. "See you tomorrow." Rushing out and nearly knocking into some coworkers, who shot him strange looks, Inuyasha took off for the parking lot. As he walked across several empty spaces to get to his car, he noticed a dingy sedan idling on the opposite end of the lot, one with tinted windows. He didn't recognize it. For a precinct that large, it wasn't that unusual, but everything made him suspicious lately. As Inuyasha backed out and signaled to turn out into the street, he glanced up in his rearview mirror. Sure enough, he recognized the sedan following him not too far behind.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he removed one hand from the wheel and reached for his cell phone in his back pocket. His thumb smashed down on the first button and held there until a very faint dialing noise could be heard. He put the phone to his ear and waited while it dialed.

"Hello?" his wife answered, sounding distracted and more than a little confused.

"Can you take off work?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes flicking back up to his rearview mirror and seeing the car, still behind him. It was keeping its distance, allowing space and more cars to fall between them, but he'd kept with Inuyasha turn-for-turn.

"It's the middle of the day!" Kagome exclaimed. Inuyasha could picture her perfectly based on the surprise in her voice—her blue-gray eyes wide, her eyebrows lifted to her hairline, and one hand perched on her cocked hip.

"I think I'm losing my mind," Inuyasha admitted, lowering his voice and again locating the sedan behind him in the rearview mirror. He took a sudden, unexpected turn to try to throw the driver off, and the car behind him laid on the horn.

For a moment, Kagome was quiet, and Inuyasha could tell she was taking his plight seriously, weighing her words before she answered. "Okay," she said finally, her voice soft and measured. "I'll see if someone can cover my shift. What did you have in mind?"

"Can you meet me at the mayor's office downtown in thirty minutes?"

He could hear rustling over the phone, indicating she was already getting her things in order to take off. "Sure, I think so."

"I'm going to stop by the house to change into street clothes. I'll see you there," he informed her, switching lanes with a delayed turn signal, eliciting another honk. It paid off, however, since the sedan dropped further back, boxed in by a cement truck and a mini-van. Briefly, Inuyasha wondered if his paranoia was making him delusional, but he brushed the thought away impatiently. His instincts were what made him such a good cop, and he hadn't been wrong yet. If his gut was saying something was wrong, then something _was_ wrong. It was just a matter of figuring out what.

Before he could hang up, his wife derailed his train of thought—which seemed to be getting wildly out of control—with a tentative, "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Kagome's voice was much stronger, surer, with no underlying tone of uncertainty. It bolstered his resolve.

"Love you, too."

* * *

><p>Kagome waited on the steps in front of the mayor's office, which was a bustling brownstone in the heart of downtown. There were all kinds of city officials and lawyers rushing past her, in a hurry whether they were coming or going. Privately, she was glad that she had come straight from work—it meant that she was already dressed for a meeting with the mayor, in a respectable skirt, blouse, and heels that she had been wearing under her white doctor's coat. Said coat was folded over one of her arms, and she smiled absent-mindedly at the dinosaurs stitched along the hem.<p>

She loved her husband.

In fact, Kagome strongly believed that she loved him more at that moment, five months into their marriage, than she had for all the time she had known him before or after their reunion one year ago. Her mother, as much as the woman adored Inuyasha and had been ecstatic to hear the man had come back into her daughter's life, had been understandably concerned about their rush into marriage so soon after coming back together, but Kagome was pleased—and, if she were being completely honest, a little relieved—that she loved the man more with each passing day. Sometimes, she was afraid her heart would burst with it.

It was for that reason more than any other that she was willing to call in a favor with her superior, Dr. Kikyou Sato, and hightail it to the mayor's office at Inuyasha's request.

He needed her for support; there was no other reason for why he'd requested her presence.

During their separated years, Kagome had dated a few men, most casually and only one seriously. She broke up with her high school boyfriend during the summer before college after they learned they had been accepted to different universities, and Kagome realized she just didn't care enough about Kouga to try to keep up the relationship long-distance. There were plenty of handsome, intelligent men in medical school, but during each date, Kagome couldn't help but compare them to Inuyasha (or her memory of him, anyway). It turned out that the only man who could stack up to Inuyasha was Inuyasha, something she realized immediately when she saw him in that emergency room almost a year earlier. Bleeding, but looking so confident and courageous that if she didn't know any better, she would have thought it was only a flesh wound. They both worked long hours at stressful, difficult jobs, and yet she knew they could make it.

Because Kagome's heart still skipped a beat every time Inuyasha smiled at her.

Now, standing on the steps and searching the crowd for that familiar head of white hair, Kagome hardened her resolve to follow him, if not somewhat blindly. Then again, everyone knew love was blind.

When Inuyasha arrived, he was able to spot Kagome even from yards away. She stood out like a sore thumb, so calm, pretty, and fresh compared to the surging crowd of people in business suits surrounding her. If he wasn't so harried, he would have chuckled when she lifted her arm to wave at him over the heads of everyone else, as if he would need help identifying his wife.

"Hi," she greeted with an easygoing smile.

Just seeing her calmed his racing heart and made him feel more centered and in control. "How was work?"

"Short," she quipped. "So, what's the plan, then?"

Inuyasha turned to face the building, his warm, almost gold eyes sweeping the front as though looking for weaknesses. "The mayor knew my dad forever ago; I'm hoping she'll recognize my name and give us a break."

Kagome hesitated before saying anything, biting her bottom lip in thought. "Why are we seeing the mayor?"

A dark look passed over her husband's face, startling her. She'd seen him look determined, but never like this. "I don't trust the chief," he explained finally, waving his hands at the inaccuracy of his words. Words had never been his strength; he relied on actions to carry him through life. He struggled with finding the right way to make it clear to her the feeling he'd had earlier, the unsettling sense that something was not right—had never been right—with Police Chief Naraku Onigumo. "I have no evidence, _nothing_, but I don't know what else to do but go over Naraku's head on this one. I don't want to drag anyone else into this, at least no one at the precinct."

Kagome nodded slowly, realizing that Inuyasha was being rash and impulsive, acting on instinct without a clearly formulated plan. Unfortunately, she wasn't there to point out the flaws or override his crusade for justice, whatever that meant exactly. She hoped that by relaying his fears to the mayor and in return receiving a promise that someone would look into it would put her husband's mind to rest. If he hadn't been a police officer, she was willing to bet Inuyasha would have been a vigilante.

She reached out and grabbed his much larger hand, giving his fingers a reassuring squeeze. "Well, let's go see Mayor Kaede Ito." She bumped her shoulder into his, taking advantage of the fact that she was standing a few steps higher than he was and was for once level with him. With a lopsided smile, she joked, "I'm so excited; I've always wanted to meet the mayor!"

Appreciating her attempt to cheer him up, Inuyasha began ascending the rest of the stairs, keeping a firm hold on his wife's hand. Between his badge and Kagome's friendly, polite smile, the two managed to get past the main receptionist in the lobby and the second, sterner receptionist right outside the mayor's quarters. In the sitting room directly before Kaede's office, the couple ran into their first roadblock.

"How can I help you, today?" a pleasant man asked, standing up from his desk situated in the corner of the room. He was tall and lean, dressed in nice slacks and a button-up, long-sleeved shirt that only served to highlight his attractive features. He had a nice, welcoming smile and laughing eyes that were so dark brown that they were almost purple. As he approached them, he took off the reading glasses perched on the end of his nose and held out his other hand to shake Inuyasha's.

"Yeah, hi," Inuyasha started, pumping the man's hand firmly before releasing it. "We were hoping to have a quick meeting with the mayor?"

"Do you have an appointment?" the man questioned knowingly, but he remained smiling.

"Not exactly," Inuyasha responded, torn between being irritated and sheepish. He had forgotten that the mayor would have an assistant. Down at the precinct, he'd heard Naraku mention the mayor's aide, a man named Miroku, who acted like Kaede's guard dog, keeping the mayor's life on track with an iron fist that sometimes caused issues when Naraku had tried to have impromptu meetings. Naraku never forgot or forgave an instance when he had been denied something, and the other officers remembered the sour mood he had been in for the rest of the day afterwards.

"Either you do or you don't," Miroku pointed out with a chuckle.

Kagome stepped forward, away from her husband, to reinforce her plea of: "It's really very important."

"It often is." Miroku's voice was kind but stern. "You have to understand, reelection is coming up, and Mayor Ito is very busy. Shaking hands, kissing babies, that sort of thing." He paused, opening and closing his mouth, but then deflated a little; Inuyasha and Kagome both recognized the sudden look of resignation that overtook his features. "How about this—You tell me what's going on, and I'll relay the information to Kaede for you?"

Deciding it was their best (not to mention _only_) bet, Inuyasha nodded. As he opened his mouth to respond, however, his wife suddenly latched onto his arm, her fingers digging through his shirt and into his flesh.

"Inuyasha," she whispered in a bleak voice, her eyes trained on something through the open door behind them. Both Inuyasha and Miroku turned to look. Talking to the receptionist, his badge held up in front of him, was Byakuya.

Sensing the couple's uneasiness, Miroku stepped around them and to the door, very quietly and quickly shutting it. As it snapped closed, in the last second, Byakuya looked over and caught Miroku's gaze and started forward; the receptionist rose from her seat to block him. When Miroku turned back around, focusing on Kagome and Inuyasha who looked not unlike a pair of cornered animals, all the laughter in his violet eyes had been replaced with seriousness. "What exactly is going on, you two?"

Inuyasha didn't answer at first, his face contorting with rage. "I can't believe he followed me," he bit out, keeping his voice low. "Look," he continued a little louder, "we can't talk here. Something's weird, and I… I just—" He broke off with an aggravated huff and ran his hands through his hair, his eyes flitting around the room as though waiting for an escape route to pop out of the woodwork.

Miroku put a hand to his temple, thinking quickly. "God, I hope I don't regret this," he muttered very softly, but the couple still managed to overhear. Moving fast on his long legs, he crossed the room in only a few strides and produced a key from his pocket. Unlocking the door with one hand and gesturing them forward with the other, he tried to ignore the sudden rattling of the doorknob that led to the receptionist's area. "See that painting? It's hanging on a door disguised as a panel of the wall. Through it is a staircase that leads to the back alley. Kaede's not actually here, another reason why I couldn't let you see her. I'll meet you back there after I get rid of that officer, okay?"

The couple brushed past Miroku on their way into the room, and as they did so, Inuyasha reached out and clapped a hand on the mayor's aide's shoulder. "Thanks," he told him sincerely.

"Quickly," Miroku urged before shutting the door and locking it behind them. As Inuyasha and Kagome escaped through the hidden door, they could hear Miroku welcome Byakuya into the sitting area with an overly cheerful voice. Although Kagome paused, glancing worriedly behind her, Inuyasha's grabbed her hand and yanked her through.

"Not that I didn't believe you before," Kagome said quietly, keeping close to her husband as they descended the very dark, narrow staircase, "but I can definitely see now where you got the idea that something weird is going on."

With a dry chuckle, Inuyasha located the door that led to the alley behind the mayor's office. "Glad to see you're finally on my side."

"Always was and always will be," Kagome told him firmly, interlacing her fingers with his. "Except now I just understand that side a little better."

They waited for Miroku for ten minutes, but it felt like years. The couple leaned back against the side of the building, their eyes trained on opposite ends of the alley, and their hands remained clasped. When Miroku did appear, he looked more ruffled than he had when he'd first met them.

"I don't like that man," he announced as soon as he was in their company. His voice was irritated, and he tugged on the end of his small ponytail in annoyance.

"How'd you get rid of him?" Inuyasha asked gruffly; it was in his nature to be wary, and the current circumstances made him even more so.

The mayor's aide seemed to gather his thoughts, his eyes appraising the couple before him. For people he had never met before in his life, Miroku felt as much of an instant like for them as he had felt an instant dislike for Byakuya. They looked so determined, and the way they kept close to one another spoke to the romantic in him. It was also entirely possible that he was just a sucker for a good mystery. Having spent most of his life with his nose in a book, Miroku had always been drawn to adventure. Working in the mayor's office did not provide much of that.

"He knew you were here; he said he recognized your cars out front, and even if he didn't, the receptionists confirmed it when he described you two. I just said that you both had been here but had already left after I denied your request to meet with the mayor."

"Then what?"

"We argued for a bit. He wanted to see the mayor himself; he also insisted on searching her office to make sure you two weren't in there. Eventually, I talked him into leaving. I don't think I made a friend back there."

Kagome laughed lightly, appreciating his humor even in such a dark moment. "Oh, I'm sure that's a good thing," she promised. Miroku smiled easily back at her.

"So, are either of you going to explain anything now?"

It took Inuyasha almost fifteen minutes, but he explained everything from beginning to end, sparing no small detail. Kagome gasped when he mentioned Byakuya's comment from earlier that day, agreeing that him asking about her in that way seemed suspicious and made her feel uncomfortable, even hearing the comment indirectly. With each passing second, Miroku's expression darkened with the same suspicion and worry that had clouded her husband's face for the past couple of days.

"But you have no direct proof of anything," Miroku confirmed, sounding as though he was trying to be practical. "You only have their behavior to go off of."

"That's right," Inuyasha admitted.

"Then I guess we'll just have to find proof," Miroku said.

The men were interrupted when Kagome made a weird, strangled noise in the back of her throat. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news _again_," she said, her wide blue-gray eyes studying the mouth of the alleyway, "but I think we're in trouble."

"Byakuya?" Inuyasha asked, in the process of turning around to face the direction Kagome was looking. While he was doing so, he caught the horrified look that Miroku now had.

It was not Byakuya; instead, it was a group of five very large, burly-looking men. They were stalking down the alley, fanned out in a way that completely blocked off what was already a narrow pathway. Inuyasha and Miroku were not short, but each of the thugs approaching them was at least half a foot taller.

With a scoff, Inuyasha spat to the side in derision. "It's broad daylight, and we're standing behind the mayor's office. They can't do anything to us."

"You sure, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked in a quiet voice. "Because I think that looks like a gun."


	5. we are doomed but we wanted more

Fair warning, there's a lot of dialogue in this one but also a lot of explanations.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

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><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Four: we are doomed but we wanted more

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><p>"I think I'm beginning to regret my decision to help you two," Miroku mumbled under his breath. Despite the situation, his tone was more sarcastic than defeated; he must have accepted the fact that there was no backing out. Literally, it seemed, since he and the couple were trapped in an alley with no way out.<p>

As the men approached—at an irritatingly slow pace, dragging out the suspense for as long as they possibly could to make their targets suffer—Inuyasha reached behind him and shuffled Kagome out of view behind his back. She peeked around his shoulder, her blue-gray eyes sweeping over their attackers' faces and studying the layout of the alley. The five men couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder because it was so narrow, so instead they walked in an arrow pattern with one man at the tip and the other four falling behind him, fanning outward. Only the front man had a gun while the others had nothing but their big meaty fists to use as weapons. Even if Inuyasha had studied martial arts as a teenager and other fighting methods while working as a policeman, they were easily outnumbered and outmatched. Kagome had taken a single self-defense course, and that had been years earlier when she was still in college. Miroku, with his lean and lanky body, did not look like much of a fighter.

"What's the plan?" Miroku asked, his eyes flitting from mean, angry face to mean, angry face. His mouth, which had been so charming when he was smiling at their first meeting, was now drawn in a stern, thin line.

"I don't carry my gun on me when I'm off-duty," Inuyasha explained in a low, growly voice. "Even if I did, I don't think it would be much of an advantage. There's not much cover back here for us to use if this turned into a shootout."

"Think we can make it back into the building through the staircase?" Kagome offered optimistically. Thankfully, her voice was well-suited to being upbeat and cheerful, even in the direst situation. They were only a few meters away from the door.

Miroku shook his head remorsefully. "It's a one way exit; the door locks from the inside. There's not even a doorknob out here."

Although this exchange of words took place in only a few seconds, the group of attackers had advanced far enough that Kagome could easily pick out every detail of their rough, lined faces. Several yards beyond the thugs, the world continued on as though nothing was happening. People passed by obliviously on the sidewalk. The other side of the alley ended in a high, chainlink fence that offered Kagome and the others no escape, but at least meant no one could come up on them from behind.

"Officer Taisho?" the man at the front asked, his mouth twisted in a disturbing grin. He was especially big and ugly. "We've been looking everywhere for you. You weren't home."

"Had some errands to run," Inuyasha retorted, licking his lips and glancing around, calculating.

"That's alright; this saves us the trouble of hunting down your wife, too. She's a pretty little thing, ain't she?"

"Byakuya was right about that, eh Goshinki?" one of the others asked the front man with a twisted smile.

"You won't touch her," Inuyasha growled, his grip on Kagome's wrist tightening.

Goshinki's eyes darkened while his lackeys all broke into sinister chuckles. "You won't have much say in the matter once I kill you."

"I'd like to see you try!" Inuyasha roared, pushing off from the ground. He lunged at the man in the front, the one with the gun. The distance between them was narrow enough that Inuyasha easily collided with the attacker's gut, using his momentum to take them both to the concrete. The revolver went off, but the shot went wild, ricocheting off a brick wall. The two men landed in a heap, their legs and arms tangling as Inuyasha struggled for the gun. The officer managed to latch onto Goshinki's wrist and with a sickening _snap_, the bone broke.

The weapon dropped and skittered across the ground. Getting over their surprise, two of the lackeys went for it, but Kagome reached it first. She dove between them, sliding across the ground on her arm and tearing her blouse, but managed to scoop the gun up before either of the thugs even came close. Lying on her back, she turned the muzzle of the revolver on the men; both of them stopped instantly, staring at her dumbly. Expertly, Kagome cocked the hammer and held her aim steady, having gone to the shooting range with Inuyasha several times since their wedding.

Quickly, on his side of the fray, Miroku ducked and barely missed a punch from someone. He had trouble keeping track of who was trying to hit him—there seemed to be two different men throwing punches—because the narrow alley was a flurry of motion. Inuyasha and Goshinki were wrestling on the ground, the broken wrist not doing much beyond forcing the head thug to use his good arm to pummel Inuyasha instead of using both. Kagome was keeping her cool despite the fact that she was lying in a dirty alley in a skirt and pointing a gun at two men, smoothly moving her aim from one to the other if either so much as twitched. It hardly seemed fair that Miroku was dealing with _two _lackeys of his own without a gun, but he didn't have to wait long for help.

A feminine cry rang out, echoing around the alleyway, as a female stranger hurled herself at one of the men attacking Miroku. The aide watched in awe as the brunette woman, coming seemingly out of nowhere, tackled a man twice her size to the ground by locking both arms around his barrel chest. She put all her weight on the man's gut and backhanded the thug hard enough that his head whipped to the side, bouncing off the concrete. With a moan, the man stopped moving. Miroku held his hand out to the woman and yanked her to her feet, taking the time to appreciate her lithe figure as she settled back into a fighter's stance next to him, which looked out of place on a woman in a three piece business suit and high heels. After only a moment, however, she reached under her jacket and retrieved her own gun from a hidden holster.

"Everyone on the ground!" she shouted, turning her gun quickly from the second thug who had been after Miroku to the one who was pinned down by Inuyasha. Goshinki now had a bleeding, broken nose and a swollen eye in addition to the wrist the cop had snapped earlier in the confrontation. "Get on the ground!" she repeated, her voice loud and commanding authority.

When Miroku moved to follow her order, she slid him a highly aggravated, disgruntled look.

"Not you," the woman grumbled before turning her attention back to the attackers.

With one last punch that created a sickening wet _thud_ of flesh on flesh, Inuyasha pushed himself away from Goshinki and stepped back, turning to glare at the two men Kagome held at gunpoint, watching them lower themselves obediently to the ground. The four conscious men put their hands behind their heads and laid facedown, facing the dirty concrete. Once the thugs were down, Inuyasha bent over and scooped his wife up from where she laid sprawled on the floor, proud of her when he saw how steady her hands were, sure on the trigger. He set her on her feet, and Kagome braced herself on her heels, keeping the revolver pointed at the men.

"Not that I don't appreciate your timing," Inuyasha muttered to the brown-haired woman who had probably saved all their asses, wiping a hand across his mouth and smearing a rivulet of blood across his cheek. "But who the hell are you?"

"Sango Kuwashima, federal agent," the brunette introduced herself in clipped words. "I'd show you my badge, but my hands are full."

"I'm just going to come right out and say it—what the _hell_ is going on?" Miroku demanded, running his hands through his hair. During the struggle, his neat ponytail had come undone, and his hair hung around his face in slightly shaggy, wavy locks. It made him look undisciplined, something Kagome felt the mayor's aide never looked.

"You stumbled across something so much bigger than you can even imagine," Sango explained, sliding a look to Inuyasha with very serious brown eyes. She ignored the chorus of groans from the men lying on the ground; most of them were unharmed, but she'd learned over the course of her job that thugs were complete babies. "You were way too obvious in your suspicion; it must have tipped Naraku Onigumo off, which is why he sent these guys after you. You're lucky you didn't end up the same way that Hakudoshi kid did."

"We would have been fine," Inuyasha snapped, but his uncertain expression and the worried look he sent his wife told the others he honestly thought otherwise. "Now what? I mean, since you're here, the government's obviously involved. Who can I talk to?"

"The government?" Sango echoed with a dark laugh. "I'm the only one looking into this. No one else is giving it a second glance; Naraku's got people on the inside. We've got to get out of here."

"Let me get this straight," Miroku, struggling to look and sound practical, interjected. "We're going to leave five thugs that just tried to murder us in an alley in broad daylight and… I'm the mayor's aide. I can't just run off with a rogue government agent and a paranoid police officer and a…"

"I'm a pediatrician," Kagome offered with a soothing, lop-sided smile.

"A pediatrician," Miroku repeated. "A _pediatrician_? Is it just me, or is this getting a little out of hand?"

"It's not just you," Kagome promised in a quiet voice. When she looked back at Miroku, he recognized the terror in her eyes, saw the slightest tremor in her lips as though she was about to cry. Looking at Inuyasha, the aide could see that the cop was also completely out of his comfort zone, his eyes wide and wild.

"Like it or not, you're a part of this now," Sango said, her expression lightened as she looked at Miroku over her shoulder, her gaze now a little sympathetic. "We've got to get out here immediately. We can discuss this once we get somewhere safe."

"And where would that be?" Inuyasha demanded, casting a disbelieving look back to the streets. No one was looking their way; it made him sick. Were people really that self-absorbed that they didn't notice the struggle? The shouting? The _gunshot_? He reached out and took the revolver from Kagome, prying her fingers loose. He met her eyes, trying to convey everything he was thinking and feeling to her in that single look—his confusion, worry, and relief that she was okay.

Kagome smiled tremulously back at her husband.

"Okay," he agreed quietly, still looking at her, grounding himself. "Sango, was it? Okay. Let's do this."

"Stay on the ground," Sango ordered the thugs, "After we leave the alley, count to one thousand, and then do whatever the hell you want. We'll take care of you later."

"Not unless we take care of you first," Goshinki bit out, swiping at a dribble of blood flowing down his chin. "Sweetie," he tacked on the end for good measure.

In response, Sango delivered a swift kick to his ribs. She smiled in satisfaction when he groaned and curled in on himself. With one hand, the agent straightened her suit and brushed off the fabric, trying to regain a look of poise before they walked out of the alley. Compared to the others, she didn't look like she'd just been in a fight. The other woman, the policeman's wife—Kagome?—had a ripped sleeve and a little bit of blood beading around a cut on her arm that she'd gotten when she slid across the concrete when going for the gun. Miroku mostly looked ruffled. Inuyasha, however, had taken the brunt of the attack when he went for Goshinki. The cop had a quickly darkening black eye, torn collar, and blood on his face and hands. His knuckles had split open after repeatedly punching the thug's leader in the face.

Inuyasha grabbed his wife by the elbow and helped steady her on her heels as she picked her way over the men. The group left, Sango going last so that she could keep her eye and gun on the thugs, and then they rounded the corner. Barely anyone spared them a glance despite their ragged appearance. People passed them quickly, giving the group a wide berth but little attention.

* * *

><p>Sango leaned against the wall, peering through the blinds and squinting into the bright sun. They were in a small motel room, one off the interstate that was in such bad repair that there were few other guests. The rest of the group she had picked up was scattered around the small room, perched on the two beds, and looking at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. A sharp regret had settled in her stomach—She had been following Goshinki and the other thugs, saw them park their SUV and go into the alleyway behind the mayor's office. It was only when they didn't reappear within a few minutes that she got out of her car and tailed them, barely managing to intercede during the fight before anyone had gotten seriously hurt.<p>

She blamed the lack of sleep.

In the past three weeks, Sango hadn't been able to sleep through the night once. It was during those three weeks that Sango's entire life had started to unravel. Only last month, she had been happily working in a government office downtown. Her father was head of the department, she spent most of her time on paperwork and reviewing videos or documents, and she had just started flirting with the cute man who worked in the building across the street. But then the anonymous tips starting filling her inbox and her voicemail—

It didn't make sense. Why her? Sango was mostly a desk jockey with good aim at the shooting range. It was possibly—probably—because her father was such an esteemed man on the task force.

The unexplainable deaths that had been happening city-wide for months, deaths that had been increasing at an alarming rate, were due to drugs; or so the anonymous tipper insisted. A new drug was in development, one that went unnoticed by the police because it was being _sold_ by the police. The tipper pointed the government in the direction of Police Chief Naraku Onigumo. Within only a few days of the investigation, however, the entire operation was shut down.

_By Sango's father_.

He ordered everything to stop, for everyone to go back to business as usual. All the documents that had been written and gathered were destroyed. Special Agent Kuwashima declared the anonymous tips nothing but an elaborate hoax. Sango wasn't convinced, but her father immediately turned her away. Like a pit-bull, however, the brunette just couldn't let it go. For weeks now, she had been continuing the investigation on her own, tailing Naraku and then Byakuya and finally Goshinki. She had missed the murder of Officer Hakudoshi because she was tailing Naraku at the time but had been one of the first on the scene. It had to have been Goshinki and Byakuya. Working alone meant she had to spread herself thin, deciding who to follow at the expense of missing the activities of anyone else.

It was during one of the nights tailing Naraku that she watched the police chief break into one of his own employee's houses. Inuyasha Taisho's.

Now they were all knee-deep in whatever it was that was going on.

This was what Sango explained to Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miroku—in a voice that trembled with rage and confusion and determination.

"So your dad's in on it?" Inuyasha asked gruffly, straight to the point. Kagome placed her hand over his and squeezed it in quiet warning, shaking her head discreetly.

Sango turned away from the window, her eyes downcast. "I think so. He must be on Naraku's payroll—he's the only one high enough in the organization to clamp down on the investigation so harshly. I think it might also have something to do with my brother."

"Your brother?" Miroku prodded in a soft voice. He'd since found something to tie his hair back with to keep it out of his face. In a resigned sort of way, he'd settled into a place in the group, his calm and collected exterior helping ground the others. They were all exhausted now that the adrenaline had fled their bodies.

"Kohaku," Sango clarified. "He's been missing for two weeks now. My father won't file a missing persons report, and I—I just—I don't know. My father's always been so passionate about justice. It makes no sense that he would help out a police-run drug ring, not even for all the money in the world. He's just been so protective of this case, and he hasn't looked right for almost a month. Dark circles under his eyes, and his hair has started falling out."

"It's a drug doing all this? That would explain Byakuya's illness; he must be using," Inuyasha muttered.

Kagome nodded, her eyes thoughtful. "The deaths and illnesses could either be direct side-effects of the drug, or the drug could be wearing out the users' bodies to the point where they are completely defenseless to other illnesses. Pneumonia or something else, maybe."

The federal agent scrubbed at her face with her hands, hiding a bitter frown. "This is going to sound horrible, but I'm happy to finally have some other people to bounce my ideas off of. I've been going crazy dealing with this on my own for so long."

"I was going out of my mind after only a few days," Inuyasha agreed. "I can't imagine how hard it's been for you when you've been putting up with this for almost a month."

"We have to figure this out; we have to put a stop to it! So many people have lost their lives already, and I don't know what to do. If I can't even trust my own father and there are dirty cops and federal agents everywhere, how high up do we have to go to stop this?" Sango demanded, starting to pace the floor. The room was so cramped, that she could only go a few strides before having to spin on her heel and head in the opposite direction.

"You don't think the mayor was in on this, do you?" Miroku asked quietly, avoiding meeting the eyes of anyone else.

Kagome, who was perched on the edge of one bed next to her husband, reached across the gap and laid a reassuring hand on Miroku's arm. "I'm sure Mayor Ito is innocent. I've always liked her—and if she has an aide as great as you, there's no way she could be a part of this mess."

"I agree; I've found nothing to link Kaede Ito to this," Sango promised.

"Did you ever find out who your anonymous tipper was?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango shook her head. "I've been working on that," she explained. With a rough motion, she jerked the end of her ponytail, something she did when she was feeling extremely annoyed. As soon as the group reached the motel, she had shed her suit jacket, revealing her blouse and a vest underneath, her gun holster standing in stark contrast to the fabric. It made her look so official that even Inuyasha was having trouble not addressing her constantly as "ma'am." Both women had taken off their heels since the footwear seemed a ridiculous choice during a crisis. "I've figured out that Naraku is producing these drugs in multiple warehouses throughout the city. He uses corrupt police officers, government agents, and city officials to locate and then protect drug dealers. The dealers then use legitimate establishments—like clothing boutiques and family-owned restaurants—to sell the drugs. I'm thinking the tip came from one of the people whose business is used to run drugs, and that person wants out."

"What do we do now?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha looked at her, his harsh features softening. She looked so small and delicate right then, in her torn blouse and with a perturbed expression. Her dainty hands had woven together in her lap, twisting the fabric of her dirty, mussed pencil skirt.

"None of us can go home. Even if Goshinki didn't recognize me or Miroku, Byakuya will know who we are once those thugs describe us. I don't have any direct lines of communication to the top of the government structure, but I'll figure something out. Besides our personal testimonies and some videos I recorded of Naraku acting suspiciously, I have no hard evidence. All paper trails have been destroyed, and I can't run any phone taps or anything without alerting a mole in my department. I think we might be screwed."

"We're not dead yet," Kagome insisted stubbornly, a determined set to her mouth. "We're all in this, so we might as well find a way out _together_. We just need a plan."

"If Sango shares all the information she has on this, we might be able to figure out who the anonymous tipper is. We can then get more information off 'em and take the fight to Naraku," Inuyasha decided. He pounded his fist into his other hand in excitement.

"A group of four people—especially this group of four people—can hardly take on a city-wide conspiracy," Miroku pointed out intelligently. "No offense to Kagome, but neither she nor I are trained for this sort of thing. And what are we supposed to do with Naraku? I mean, if it's just a matter of tracking him down, can't we find him at the police station?"

"No offense taken," Kagome assured the mayor's aide with a laugh. "I'd make an awful vigilante, and we all know it."

"After today," Sango added, doubtfully, "I don't think Naraku will return to the station. I mean, once his minions report back to him, he's going to know there are at least four people running around the city knowing something is going on, four people who escaped being executed on his order. He's not afraid of killing people, which was proven by Hakudoshi's death—who as far as I can tell, stumbled on the conspiracy at the station by accident, a young rookie like that could hardly have figured this out on purpose—and all the drug-related deaths. We're dealing with a hardened criminal disguised as an important member of the police force. Naraku has two advantages—he can use his corrupt lackeys _and_ all the good cops out there as his eyes and ears. All he has to do is tell the precinct that Inuyasha has gone rogue, and then we'll have the whole city hunting us."

"Shit, you're right," Inuyasha realized in a stunned voice. "All Naraku has to do is pin something on me, like Hakudoshi's murder, and I won't be able to show my face anywhere. I wouldn't even get close to the station, even if he had the balls to show up there after what happened today."

The four fell silent as they all contemplated their situation. It looked dire, even as they all thought hard about their options—which seemed to be none. Thankfully, however, they had Kagome. Despite the fact that she was the furthest removed (even Miroku, as the mayor's right-hand man, had a stake in it) Kagome felt that that was what gave her the greatest insight. Due to both her personality and her occupation, she was also an optimist through and through. There was a solution to everything; they just had to find it.

"Between the three of you, there has to be several people you can rely on," Kagome pointed out to the government agent, the policeman, and the mayor's aide. "Pool your resources, and we might actually have an advantage. I mean, Inuyasha, no matter what Naraku tells the precinct, you can always count on Jinenji to have your back, right? You just have to make the call. Sango, you aren't alone in this, no matter how isolated you've been feeling at work. I know things don't feel right with your father, but you have to have coworkers you can trust. Finally, Miroku, think of all the contacts you've made through working at the mayor's office. We need people to be our eyes and ears, since we need to stay hidden, but—"

She was interrupted when Inuyasha pulled her to him and kissed her, the action sending shivers down her spine. Because they had an audience, the moment ended much faster than either of them wanted. "God, I love you. Have I mentioned that?"

"Only a few times," Kagome mumbled in a dazed voice. "So, does this mean I'm right?"

"You might just be my new best friend," Sango said with a smile on her face, the worry partially melting away for the first time since the group had met the federal agent. "You're like a freaking ray of sunshine."

Their bolstered mood was shattered when someone pounded on the door, too harshly to be the maid. Sango looked over and lifted a finger to her lips, shushing all of them despite the fact that the others had gone silent immediately anyway. Quietly, the brunette retrieved her gun from its holster and approached the door, pressing her back to the wall next to it. Inuyasha gestured for Miroku and Kagome to get down low to the ground before picking up the stolen revolver from the side table. He mirrored Sango, standing next to the wall on the other side of the door, gun up and ready with the safety off.

With a nod to Inuyasha to confirm that he was prepared to react if anything happened, Sango called out, "Who is it?"

"Sango, you will open this door immediately."

Obviously recognizing the voice, Sango paled. Her grip tightened on the gun, however, and her nerves remained steeled. "I doubt that'll happen any time soon, Father."

A long moment of silence dragged out before the door caved inward due to a well-placed kick. Sango and Inuyasha both jumped backward, away from door. They skidded across the carpet, bringing their guns up to aim at the man who had just entered. He was tall and obviously related to Sango; they shared the same coloring, had the same eyes. The man also held his gun just as steadily as his daughter did—actually, he held both his guns, government-issued Berettas, aimed outwards opposite each other, one at Inuyasha and one at Sango.

"I've come to kill Officer Inuyasha Taisho," Special Agent Kuwashima announced, a hardened glint to his eyes. "Better say goodbye to your wife."


	6. swallowed into space

I'm far behind where I meant to be by now. I guess I'll just have to write an extra long chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

* * *

><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Five: swallowed into space

* * *

><p>"Why are you doing this?" Sango asked, her voice coming across as gruff, but it broke on the last word, showing just how distressed she really was.<p>

Special Agent Kuwashima's face remained stoic, indicating no remorse about pointing a gun at his own daughter—not to mention at an innocent police officer. "Sango, put down your weapon and walk away. _Now,_" he ordered.

"What? Not sent to kill me along with Inuyasha?" the woman demanded, tightening her grip on the government-issued handgun. "I'm not a little girl anymore, _Dad_, and I'm going to do what I want. Which is to say, the _right_ thing to do."

"If you know what's good for you—for our family—then you will walk away immediately," Kuwashima informed her, his own hand steady. He had been in the business far longer than Sango and as a result, felt more confident in his aim than in hers. Desperately, Sango wondered what had happened to make him like this. Although he had never been an openly affectionate man, he had always valued family, taking care of his children first and foremost, even after his wife had died years earlier. Special Agent Kuwashima had been in the business of saving people, but now it looked like he'd switched sides.

Kagome had crouched low to the ground next to Miroku at Inuyasha's signal, but now she got to her feet, looking even smaller and more delicate without the added height her high-heeled shoes normally gave her. The pediatrician took a step forward, resolutely ignoring the warning look her husband shot in her direction, her hands held out before her in a placating gesture. Kuwashima turned his eyes to her but kept his guns pointed at Inuyasha and Sango. The wife was not a threat.

"Please," Kagome pleaded. Honestly, she didn't feel one hundred percent confident in her ability to talk the man down. If he wouldn't listen to his own daughter, why would he listen to a stranger? Still, Kagome had always had it easy with people, even ones she didn't know. It was what made her such a good doctor. One look at her bright smile and big eyes, and people instantly found her endearing. "Please," she repeated softly, knowing that it would force Kuwashima to strain his ears and therefore transfer more attention to her and less on Inuyasha. "People are dying, and we just want to help. We want to make this all go away. Don't you want that, too?"

Surprising all of them, Kuwashima answered in a bitter, longing voice. "Yes."

"Then help us!" Sango blurted out, undoing Kagome's attempt to divide the government agent's attention.

"Come on, Kuwashima," Inuyasha said, noticing the gun pointed at him was aiming for his head while the one at Sango was lower, aiming for a non-vital area of the body. "Even with two guns, you're still just one man. We can take you down before you can take all of us with you." The officer kept his eyes forward, ignoring the look his wife gave him—the couple had always had a different approach, his just happened to be more aggressive than hers.

"I can still kill at least one of you," Kuwashima countered, swinging the gun from Inuyasha to Kagome. Instantly, the officer took a step forward, growling low in his voice, but he staggered to a stop. It would only make things worse.

"Kagome is _innocent_ in all this," Sango snapped, moving her finger to the trigger. She hoped she could make the shot. She had to.

"She knows. Everyone that knows needs to be taken out," Special Agent Kuwashima said, his voice faltering.

"Including me? You're going to kill me, too, your own _daughter_?" Sango exclaimed.

"If I have to," Kuwashima informed her harshly, but there was just the slightest hitch to his voice, one that Sango could hear, one that she frantically hoped meant he wasn't confident he really could follow through with it. "You need to understand, Sango, I have to do this."

"That's just it—I can't understand any of it," his daughter answered in a voice high and tight with anxiety. Adrenaline fueled her actions again, but it would only make her sorer and more exhausted once she came down from it. "_Why are you doing this_?"

For all his training and field experience, Special Agent Kuwashima had been sitting behind the big desk running a department for years, meaning he was more than a little rusty in high intensity situations. He had expected, counted on, the police officer to be in the room with his daughter, along with Inuyasha's wife. What Kuwashima had failed to take into account was the mayor's aide. Miroku suddenly got to his feet from where he had been hidden between the two motel beds; his face was pale but determined, his mouth set in a stern line as he caught everyone's attention—

Especially Kuwashima's.

On instinct, the older agent turned both guns on Miroku, addressing the new threat. In the brief moment it took for Kuwashima to adjust his aim, Inuyasha made his move. Cocking back the hammer on the stolen revolver, the officer shot at Kuwashima, aiming for his upper right arm. It should have been a shot powerful enough to take the agent down but not kill him.

At the last moment, Kuwashima angled his body in a way that meant he took the shot in his upper chest.

The agent dropped to his knees, releasing both guns in favor of clamping his hands to his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood.

Kagome smothered a scream but immediately rushed forward, taken over by her medical training. She pressed her hands over Kuwashima's, pushing as hard as she could. Blood splattered her arms and blouse, creeping up her sleeves. "Call an ambulance," Kagome ordered, turning blue-gray eyes on her husband. "He needs one. Now. I can't—I don't have any supplies to close this up."

"Dad," Sango whispered in a strangled voice, still in the same spot. She looked torn between running to her father's side and keeping the gun on him, knowing her father would be dangerous until he was dead. When he turned to look at her, however, opening his mouth to say something and all that bubbled up was blood from his lungs, her resolve crashed. "Dad!" she repeated, louder this time, and came to Kagome's side.

"S-Sango," Kuwashima sputtered weakly. "Kohaku is—"

"Don't speak," his daughter cut him off roughly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and hanging on tight.

"Won't make it," he told her with a bitter, knowing smile.

"You _will_."

"Naraku has Kohaku. It's why I… I agreed to help him," Kuwashima explained. "It was either Ko…"

"Either Kohaku or us," Kagome whispered, finishing it for him with grim understanding. The agent had been put in an impossible position: help a drug-dealing, corrupt officer or have his son murdered. She turned eyes on Sango, who missed her compassionate look because she had started to cry.

"I'll get him back," Sango promised sternly. "I swear. I'm going to fix all of this. Everything is going to be fine; I'll fix it."

There was a clatter, and Kagome looked over her shoulder to find Miroku setting the motel phone back in its cradle, a resigned look on his face. "The ambulance is on its way; it should be here in four minutes. I suggest we leave." It went unsaid, but the group understood. There was no way to know how far Naraku's influence stretched over the city, how many people he had on his payroll in the hospital. For all Kagome knew, her own supervisor, Kikyou, could have been one of them.

"Find Kagura." Kuwashima's voice was faint, and Sango didn't understand what he meant. She nodded anyway.

Inuyasha had been rooted to the spot, the revolver still warm in his shaking hands. Roused to action, he put the safety on the gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans, ignoring the way the metal seared his skin. He took Sango by the shoulders, pulling her up and away from her father; she let him do it. "Kagome," he said to his wife. "Do what you can, and then we need to go."

Deftly, Kagome asked Miroku to rip off a strip of fabric from the sheets on the bed. She used it as a makeshift tourniquet, although considering the position of the injury, she knew it would be ineffective. She pressed a wadded up pillow case to the gunshot wound with stern instructions for Kuwashima to keep his hands pressed on it as tight as he could. When she took her hands away, the pediatrician tried not to wince at the sluggish flow of blood that escaped from the agent's weakened hold.

Inuyasha and Miroku helped prop him up against the wall, and Sango pressed a kiss to her father's forehead. "Don't die," she whispered.

The group left, cutting across the parking lot and into a grove of trees just as an ambulance and two police cars pulled up to the motel.

"Sango, I—" Inuyasha started to say, his expression apprehensive.

"You did what you had to do," Sango cut him off. The officer flinched at how thick with emotion her voice was. "There was no good way out of that. I understand."

The policeman nodded, wrapping an arm around his wife and pulling her to him. She was shaking, so he tightened his hold on her. "We need to get cleaned up and figure out our next move."

The group was quiet, walking as silently as they could and listening for movement around them. If they happened across someone looking as bloody and rough as they did, there was no telling what trouble they'd be in. More quiet than the rest, Kagome glanced up at her husband with thoughtful eyes, frowning. "I think I know where we can go," Kagome said softly.

Inuyasha's questioning look quickly melted into one of understanding and then anger. Not at her, though, which steeled her resolve to push for his agreement. "No," he argued.

"I don't think we have a choice," Kagome insisted.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The couple looked ahead of them to find both Sango—still teary-eyed—and Miroku studying them. At some point as they trudged down the broken sidewalk, the mayor's aide had put an arm around Sango's shoulders and embraced her comfortingly, guiding her along the path. They looked good together, Kagome thought optimistically—almost like they fit.

"Inuyasha's brother lives not too far from here. He's an attorney, a pretty important—" Kagome began to explain, but broke off when she saw how Sango was nodding.

"His brother is Sesshoumaru Taisho, the assistant district attorney," Sango told Miroku. "It was in his file."

"He's not going to let us in," Inuyasha spat, looking entirely too upset considering his older half-brother had been the one to take him in after his mother died many years earlier. The truth of the matter was that Sesshoumaru wouldn't have done it if he hadn't been legally obligated to, as the older Taisho man had made perfectly clear over the years. The siblings had lived together in an awkward co-existance until Inuyasha was old enough to move out. There was no question about whether or not Sesshoumaru was a corrupt official and on Naraku's payroll—Inuyasha's brother may have been a lot of things, but he was also very proud and loyal to his job. In this, at least, Sesshoumaru was one of the good guys. Unfortunately, that did not mean he was likely to take in Inuyasha and the rest of his merry little band of vigilantes.

"He will if you ask him to," Kagome pushed. Everything about her was contradictory—her soft voice with a stubborn edge of steel behind it. She had always had an odd relationship with Sesshoumaru. On one hand, he was officially her family, and he _had_ taken Inuyasha in when he had needed it. On the other hand, a small part of Kagome still blamed Sesshoumaru Taisho for being the one to tear the young couple apart when they were teenagers. Logically, she knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but her heart still ached when she remembered Inuyasha driving away to another city all those years ago.

For his part, Sesshoumaru always seemed indifferent to both of them.

Rather than answering, Inuyasha just pulled away from his wife and moved to the front of the pack to lead them to his brother.

When they arrived, Miroku and Sango spent several moments staring up in awe at the large townhouse. It stretched before them, narrow but five stories high. Inuyasha rang the doorbell, and they could hear a deep clanging sound from within. Seconds later, the door was answered by very short, very angry looking man.

"What do you want?" he snapped when he opened the door. His buggy eyes widened even more when he saw Kagome, splattered with blood.

"Out of the way, Jakken, we need to talk to him," Inuyasha grumbled, shoving past the little butler and motioning the others inside.

"Why you—!" the little man squealed while he was being manhandled before pulling himself away and straightening his suit. "Get in the parlor; I'll let him know you're here." He paused in the doorway and looked back at the bedraggled group with a shrewd expression. "And don't touch anything," Jakken snapped.

"Friendly," Sango commented dryly about the butler, examining the fireplace mantle where a row of photographs was lined up. Mostly they featured the assistant district attorney, another handsome man who must have been his and Inuyasha's father, and a smiley little girl. "Who's this?"

"That's Sesshoumaru's adopted daughter," Kagome explained, coming to stand beside the government agent and peering over her shoulder to see what she was talking about. "Rin. She really likes me and Inuyasha, which I don't think her father appreciates."

"She's cute," Sango commented offhandedly, picking up one of the photographs and running her finger over the little girl's pictured cheek.

"Do you want kids?"

The brunette set the photo back down on the mantle and glanced at Kagome, taking in her open, honest expression. "Yeah, I do. Someday I'd like a big family. What about you?"

Now, Kagome's expression turned cloudy. Her eyes, swirling with thoughts and emotions that the agent couldn't read, flickered from Sango to her husband, leaning against a wall across the room. Almost imperceptibly, Kagome lifted a hand to her stomach and let it hover there, but then she let it fall back to her side. "Me, too. You know, someday."

Sango nodded, her eyes still on the other woman's abdomen, thinking she might understand something she wasn't supposed to.

"To what do I owe this honor?" asked someone from the parlor doorway. Sesshoumaru, looking very tall in a suit and tie, entered the room and cast a scrutinizing eye at the four assembled in his home. "Kagome, you're covered in blood," he commented matter-of-factly.

"Oh, not my own," Kagome replied with a smile at her brother-in-law. He didn't return it, but he looked a little less fierce than he did before. "I was actually hoping you might have something I could change into."

"Jakken, find her something," Sesshoumaru ordered without looking at his butler. The little man immediately ran off from where he had been standing, peering around his boss to glare at the visitors. "Inuyasha, explain yourself."

And so he did.

Sango supplied her side of the story as well, while Miroku and Kagome mostly kept quiet, explaining only that they had been involuntarily involved. At one point, Jakken returned with a pair of jogging shorts and an old t-shirt that Kagome changed into so that her own clothes could be washed.

Sango cried when she recounted her father's possible death. Miroku comforted her while Inuyasha looked stricken with guilt. Sesshoumaru listened to it all with a neutral expression on his face.

"I can't help you," he announced when they were finished.

Kagome's face crumpled; Inuyasha slammed a fist into the wall, rattling the glass in the window pane with his anger.

"At least, not at the moment," Sesshoumaru continued thoughtfully before his brother could begin shouting. "If I get involved at this point, it will only bar evidence from use in a later trial, and I would like to be the prosecuting attorney. I'm afraid it is up to you four and you four only."

Inuyasha felt, rather bitterly, that the "I'm afraid" was spoken sarcastically, even if Sesshoumaru's tone didn't convey sarcasm.

"I wasn't aware the ADA could encourage vigilantism," Sango pointed out with a strained laugh.

"As far as I am concerned, I didn't," Inuyasha's half-brother said forcefully. "What I _can _do is offer you asylum for the night. You may sleep and eat here, sort out your thoughts, but I must insist you are gone by morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a function to attend." He paused, a calculating look overtaking his features. "If I happen to find out more of this from my associates, so be it. Rin is being watched by the neighbors."

With that, he swept from the room, leaving everyone else blinking in his wake.

"If I understood what just happened correctly," Miroku began, looking from face to face, "The assistant district attorney just gave us the okay to do the dirty work with the assurance that he will clean it all up in court when we're done."

"That's what it sounded like to me," Inuyasha muttered, shutting his mouth afterwards before anything inconsiderate or rude could pass his lips. He waited a beat, making sure the urge to insult his brother was gone, before speaking again. "Let's go raid the fridge; I'm starving."

* * *

><p>The group had taken over Sesshoumaru's study, spreading out across the massive room. Kagome was draped over an armchair, Inuyasha sat behind the massive desk, Miroku was stretched out on the couch with his eyes closed although he was clearly still awake, and Sango laid across the floor on her stomach, papers spread out around her. It had been hours, and they still had no clearer plans on how to take care of the mess they were in. The only thing they could agree on was that they needed to take down Naraku and hoped that if they could capture him and turn him in to the right person, then everything else would work itself out. Unfortunately, they had no idea how exactly to <em>capture<em> someone. Naraku Onigumo would always either be out in public or surrounded by goons when in private, and the actual capturing would have to be done as discreetly as possible, so nabbing him in broad daylight was out of the question.

The question on all of their minds was: Where in the world was Naraku Onigumo?

"Hey, Sango," Kagome said after they had all been quiet for several minutes. "What was that your father said to you before we left?"

"Oh, uhm—'find Kagura.' It made no sense to me."

"Kagura sounds like a name to me. Anyone know a Kagura?" Kagome asked the room. Miroku shook his head, his eyes still closed. Sango clearly didn't either. Surprisingly, Inuyasha's eyes lit up with recognition. Instead of answering, he turned to Sesshoumaru's laptop and began typing quickly. "Inuyasha, what are you doing?" his wife asked, sitting up quickly and leaning in his direction, trying to see the computer screen.

"Searching for Kagura."

"I'm pretty sure that if you Google a first name, it's not going to narrow down anything," Kagome told her husband gently, beginning to wonder if the lack of sleep and adrenaline crashes over the past several days had unsettled his logic more than she had realized.

"Sango said she thought her anonymous tipper was one of the legitimate business owners who wanted out of the drug trade. Well, I happen to know of a Kagura who is a business owner in the area."

"And just how do you know of her?" Miroku asked, finally opening one eye and training it on the police officer. Of the four of them, the mayor's aide seemed both the calmest and the least happy about being involved in such a wide-reaching conspiracy. He may have longed for adventure, but now Miroku was fairly certain that particular desire had been doused. He wondered, vaguely, what the mayor was up to without him to keep her affairs in order. Was Kaede worried? Did she have any idea what was going on in her city right under her nose?

"Kagome, remember how I got sent home early yesterday after tackling a suspect? He had robbed a boutique owned by a woman named Kagura. At the time, I didn't think anything of it, but why was the guy who robbed her still hanging around an hour later?"

"You think she set it up," Kagome concluded with wide eyes, following his train of thought. "But why?"

"Maybe she wanted to get a couple of officers out there, to feel them out to see if they were good ones or bad ones," Inuyasha suggested, not looking completely convinced. At least it was an explanation. "But I screwed it up when I broke the guy's leg. It just ended up with me back at the precinct early getting chewed out by Naraku."

"Wasn't Byakuya with you when you did it, though? Your partner is like Naraku's right-hand man. If he was there, then Kagura would know for sure not to say anything," Sango pointed out.

"Normally, Byakuya would have been with me, but instead, Hojo was. Hojo! His father was the old police chief." The others looked confused by the officer's sudden excitement, but Inuyasha pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. He had a short, terse conversation with the person on the other end.

"Hey, Hojo, it's Inuyasha. … No, don't listen to a thing they say, alright? Look, I didn't do it. … Yeah, I swear. I would never, you know that, right? … Listen, what's your dad think of Naraku? … Really? … No, no, that's great news. Got a quick question—yesterday, after I left, did that Kagura woman say anything weird to you about anything? … Uh-huh. … Uh-huh. … That right? … Great. Don't tell anyone you spoke to me, okay? Just keep your head low and stay out of trouble. Play dumb. … No, I wasn't implying anything—Nevermind. Just watch yourself. Bye."

"Well?" Kagome asked breathlessly as soon as her husband hung up.

"Hojo says his dad, the old chief, tried to bar Naraku from taking over after his retirement. Somehow, no one took his suggestion."

"Well, if Naraku's got people in city government like we think he does, then making complaints disappear wouldn't be that hard," Sango surmised in clipped words. She believed strongly in hard work, not pulling strings. "What else did the kid say?"

"After I left yesterday to fill out paperwork, Hojo hung around with Kagura a bit longer. He said that after awhile, it was like she didn't even care about the robbery anymore. Instead, she just kept asking him random questions about him and even about me. When she found out that his dad was the old police chief, she started saying all kinds of crazy things."

Kagome frowned and tapped her chin with a finger, looking thoughtful. "Did Hojo say what exactly Kagura told him?"

"Sounded like she was pretty paranoid. Kagura told Hojo she'd been backed into a corner, and that she was always being watched. Said that she had been taking notes and could help us out if we needed it. Hojo, being Hojo, just nodded politely, thanked her, and got out of there as fast as he could."

"So what does this mean?" Miroku asked.

"It means Kagura's our girl," Sango concluded with a smile. "It means that we need to track her down and figure out how to use her to get to Naraku. If we can get him out of a commanding position in this whole mess, who is going to take over from him? Byakuya? _Goshinki_? They'll all be screwed without the head guy calling the shots."

"You really think so?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"I think that Naraku looks like the type that would sing like a canary if we got him alone. If he goes down, he'll take everyone with him," Inuyasha said, rubbing his hands together as though anticipating using them to rough someone up. His wife sent him an amused look.

"You sound like we're in an old mobster movie," she told him affectionately. "Sing like a canary? Really?"

"If you can't crack cheesy one-liners in a situation like this, when can you?"

* * *

><p>The group spent the rest of the evening at Sesshoumaru's, cleaning themselves up and taking naps—they slept like the dead. Kagome changed back into her washed, blood-free clothes and placed her shoes back on her feet. She decided, rather miserably, that if she survived this, she would never wear high heels again. For a moment, she even entertained the idea of asking Sango to trade outfit bottoms—Kagome bemoaned her pencil skirt and longed for a pair of pants.<p>

Since Jakken refused to help "outlaws," Miroku and Kagome located the kitchen themselves and made a meal from what they could find. Sango and Inuyasha remained in the study, mapping out the group's next few hours.

"How are you holding up?" Miroku asked sympathetically, slathering mayonnaise on bread to begin some sandwiches.

"Fine," Kagome responded in an airy sort of voice that sounded more like she was trying to hide her real feelings than like she was telling the truth. "I knew marrying a cop came with some strings attached; I just didn't know it would come with _this much _baggage."

"Don't tell me you regret it," her companion exclaimed. Up to that point, Miroku had seen nothing but love and support between the couple.

Kagome paused, her eyes on the sliced lunch meat and lettuce in her hands. She chewed over her answer, wanting to make sure it came from somewhere truthful and honest. "I would follow Inuyasha to the ends of the earth," she decided finally, triumphant and sure of her words.

"Well, that's good," Miroku said in an odd tone. When Kagome looked over at him, she noticed how he was studying her abdominal area rather intently. At last, he met her eyes. The mayor's aide smiled apologetically. "I overheard you and Sango. When are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Kagome countered defensively.

"Tell your husband that you're pregnant," he clarified, his voice deliberately gentle.

"I…" Kagome trailed off, taking her attention off Miroku and refocusing it on the kitchen doorway. Very faintly, she could hear the police officer discussing things with Sango. Even without hearing individual words, the very steadiness of his voice calmed her, made her feel that anything was possible—even four people going up against a seemingly endless conspiracy. If anyone could take down Naraku, it was Inuyasha. Having Sango and Miroku there only reinforced Kagome's faith. "I've been trying to find the right moment for days, but then all this came up. I guess I'll wait until after everything's worked out."

"And if it never gets worked out?"

The pediatrician opened her mouth to respond but was cut off when the object of their conversation walked in the door. As he passed by her, Inuyasha dropped a kiss on top of her hair.

"I found Kagura's home address on the web, but Sango and I think it's worth a shot to stop by her shop first."

"Are we going in unarmed?" Miroku asked, angling away from Kagome and obviously trying to recover from their conversation before Inuyasha noticed the tension in the room.

"No way. We're still only four people, so I'd feel better if we all had guns. Do you know how to shoot, Miroku?" Inuyasha questioned, picking up one of the finished sandwiches and taking a large bite. Kagome knew her husband and knew that his appetite was big enough to eat at least three of them.

"Not really; I'm a bit of a pacifist," Miroku explained uncomfortably.

"Well, you're obviously with the wrong crowd," Inuyasha joked, clapping the other man roughly on the shoulder. The mayor's aide almost buckled over with the force, which only made the police officer chuckle louder.

"Hey now, I'm all for pacifism, too," Kagome protested, showing Miroku her support with a soft smile in his direction.

"Yes, but you're a pacifist who knows how to shoot a gun," her husband said, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm raiding Sesshoumaru's hunting stash and getting you a rifle."

"A rifle?" Kagome echoed. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and folded her arms across her chest. "Doesn't that seem like a bit much?"

"A rifle means you can be placed at a distance and watch over us. If you had a handgun, you'd have to be in real close," Sango explained as she walked into the room. She took a look at the sandwiches and reached for an apple instead. "Inuyasha said you could shoot one."

"Yeah. I'm not the greatest shot, but I guess if there's a scope on it, and I'm not that far away…"

"You'll be fine," Inuyasha told her confidently, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I have faith in you. And I'd feel a lot better if I knew someone had our backs. Miroku, you too. I say we give you a pair of binoculars, and you can keep a look out, make sure we're not being snuck up on while we confront Kagura."

"No gun?"

"No gun," Sango promised, sending a suspiciously sweet look at the mayor's aide. Kagome hid a smile, wondering if her earlier observations on how good the two looked together were also on Sango's mind. There was nothing like a life-altering situation to make someone reconsider their love life.

"How are we getting there?" Kagome asked, glancing around at the four of them. They were a long walk from the shopping district.

"Sesshoumaru has five cars; I'm sure he won't miss one."

"Your brother is going to kill us," Kagome announced with a pained groan, but she was smiling. "Just in case, we should pick out the cheapest, most inconspicuous one. We'll draw too much attention if we're driving around the city in a Porsche."

The cheapest, most inconspicuous car turned out to be a black Mercedes, unfortunately. The group piled in, feeling tense. The 'new car' smell almost overwhelmed Kagome, who wondered just why Sesshoumaru was so rich. The Taisho men had not inherited very much money from their father, and yet Kagome remembered Inuyasha's brother always being extremely well off. When she asked, Inuyasha explained tersely that Sesshoumaru was good with investments and stocks.

"Maybe we should start making investments," his wife joked nervously.

The officer, who was driving, was confused when he looked over and saw his wife sitting stiffly in the passenger seat, her eyes straight ahead and her hand pressed to her abdomen. He missed the knowing look shared by Miroku and Sango in the backseat.

Half a block away from Kagura's shop, Inuyasha pulled over to the curb. Putting the car in park, he twisted around to look at Kagome and then Miroku. They'd already been over the plan of attack briefly, but Inuyasha had learned that repeating instructions was never a bad thing. "This is your stop. It's an empty apartment building undergoing some construction. Climb to the top of the fire escape—it's only four stories tall. Kagome, set up on the edge of the roof. Miroku, keep an eye out. Hopefully, there's not going to be any trouble, but Kagura did tell Hojo something about being watched. Sango and I will drive ahead and check out the shop, making contact with Kagura. If she's not here, we'll move on to her house. Got it?"

"Got it, chief," Kagome agreed with a smile. She leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Inuyasha's lips before pulling away, aware of the other two watching. "Be careful, yeah?"

"Always," he assured her, unable to tear his eyes away. "You, too."

Miroku and Kagome climbed from the car and watched the Mercedes drive away, standing in silence in the dark. The aide carried the rifle bag as they climbed the fire escape, handing it over once they got to the roof. "You sure you can work that thing?"

"I don't like guns," Kagome admitted. "And I don't like the idea of being this far away and hoping to make a shot, especially if it could mean life or death."

"You'll do fine," Miroku told her sincerely, patting her on the shoulder. The two took their positions.

Half a block away, Inuyasha parked the car and got out. He and Sango eyed the little shop, noting how it was mostly dark, but a light was on near the back—possibly Kagura's office. While Sango discreetly took her gun out of its holster, the policeman pounded on the front door. At first, nothing happened, but after a few tense moments, Kagura appeared out of the dark. She hesitated, eyeing the two through the glass before finally unlocking the door. Instead of letting them in, however, the woman sent a look back into dark recesses of the shop and joined them on the sidewalk.

"Officer Taisho," the businesswoman greeted in an extremely light-hearted way. Nothing in her expression or voice indicated that she found it weird that a policeman was visiting her at midnight while wearing street clothes. She also didn't mention Sango or the gun in her hand. "Any progress on my robbery?" As soon as she stopped talking, Kagura narrowed her red-brown eyes and tilted her head back at her shop in a very obvious way.

Inuyasha and Sango looked at one another before peering into the dark, trying to figure out what Kagura was warning them about. "Yes, actually, I was thinking about how weird it was that the robber stayed an hour after the theft…"

"Yes, that was very strange, wasn't it?" Kagura agreed, crossing her arms over her chest. Subtly, she cocked her hand like a gun and again titled her head toward her store.

Sango suddenly stilled, her eyes narrowing. There was movement behind Kagura. The agent pursed her lips at Inuyasha, and he seemed to understand.

"Why don't we go back to the precinct? It'll be pretty empty right now, since it's so late, but I still have some paperwork for you to fill out."

"Oh, drop the act, Inuyasha," chuckled a low voice from inside the shop. The door was pushed open with the muzzle of a heavy looking gun, and suddenly, there was Byakuya. "Being partners for a year seems to make us think alike. We both felt the need to check up on Kagura here."

All three guns were raised, but the corrupt officer's was pointed at Kagura, knowing the 'good guys' would never let a bystander get hurt in the process.

"Put down the gun, Byakuya. We know what's going on, and we're going to put a stop to it," Inuyasha snapped, struggling not to put his finger on the trigger.

"You sound like such a hero," his partner told him mockingly. "I'm pretty sure even a _rock_ would have figured out what was going on by now. Don't sound too proud of yourself," Byakuya taunted

"How could it take a year for me to see what a douche you are?" Inuyasha growled, his voice heated and growing louder by the second. Standing there, looking at this man who he had trusted to watch his back, who he had let meet his wife and shake her hand—he felt so disgusted even being that close to the creep. This was a man who wore the uniform of someone who swore to protect and serve the community, and instead he was helping dole out drugs that were causing deaths city-wide.

"I can't believe it's taken Naraku a year to finally let me kill you," Byakuya countered coolly, moving his aim from Kagura to Inuyasha. Before he could pull the trigger, there was a soft whistling sound in the air and the corrupt officer stumbled backward as though he'd been pushed roughly by an invisible hand, his eyes going wide. Confused, Sango and Inuyasha both prepared to fire, but Byakuya had already dropped his gun, was already collapsing against the glass of the front door, already holding his hand to his stomach with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Oh, god, he's been shot," Kagura whispered in a disgusted voice, taking a step back away from the blood pooling at Byakuya's feet.

"Kagome?" Sango asked Inuyasha, spinning on her heel to look in the direction they had dropped off the other half of their group. She couldn't see anything, but it was dark and half a block away.

"Unless we have someone else on our side with a rifle," Inuyasha responded, taking a step forward and putting his gun to Byakuya's shoulder. The man was already well on his way to dying, only managing a half-hateful look at his partner with pain-clouded eyes. "Should we call an ambulance?"

"No," Kagura spat, surprising both of them. "He deserves to die."

"No one deserves to die alone with no help," Sango argued softly. "Even scum like this. And Kagome will beat herself up over it, I bet, even if she did just save our lives. I'll make the call."

"Two anonymous tips about shootings; I bet the hospital just loves us," the officer said sarcastically. He didn't stop Sango, however. "Call from inside the building; don't use your cell phone."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sango agreed, leaving them to go inside.

"You up to coming with us?" Inuyasha asked Kagura.

"I'm assuming you're not on their side," the shop owner said, waving a red-tipped hand at the dying policeman. "If I assume correctly, then let's go."

Sango walked out of the shop and picked her way over Byakuya's sprawled legs, stepping up beside Inuyasha. After a moment of hesitation, she slipped her weapon back into its holster, hoping that Byakuya was the only surprise waiting for them. "All done. Let's get out of here."

The half a block long ride was silent, all three on edge after the very quick, almost silent confrontation. They parked below the fire escape and waited for several minutes, the engine idling. When Miroku and Kagome still didn't appear, the others clambered from the car and looked up at the roof with troubled expressions. With a sigh, Sango once again retrieved her gun and led the way.

At the top, Inuyasha instantly spotted Miroku crumpled in a pile. The officer crouched beside the other man and felt for a pulse, letting out his held breath when he found one. "He's alive," he told Sango, whose shoulders visibly sagged with relief. "Where's Kagome?"

"Not here," Sango said, her eyebrows drawn low together over her eyes. She doubled back over the roof again, finding the rifle broken and kicked several feet away from Miroku. The mayor's aide let out a moan but remained unconscious, his forehead starting to darken with a bruise from where he must have been hit. "There's no blood, but Kagome's definitely gone. Unless she's secretly on Naraku's side and turned on Miroku after killing Byakuya, then I think it's safe to say that someone's taken her."


	7. and all you need is a hunger to feed

My original plan called for this to be the last chapter, but that's impossible. I'm extending this story just a bit. By how much? Uhm, we'll see. Possibly just this one extra chapter, but maybe two extra ones. It honestly depends on how much I can get done in the next chapter and where I feel I need to end it.

Oh! If anyone was wondering, Sango and Miroku's last names are the last names of their Japanese voice actors.

Once again, this is a dialogue-heavy chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

* * *

><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Six: and all you need is a hunger to feed

* * *

><p>Kagura looked around at the other occupants of the car, her expression carefully guarded. They had been driving aimlessly for over half an hour now, Inuyasha at the wheel. He hadn't said a word since they got back in the car, but his eyes were flashing and he was making harsh growls low in his throat as he worked through his thoughts. The grip he kept on the steering wheel worried the others, but they remained quiet as he pushed the car as fast as it could go, none of them offering to take over driving in fear of setting him off. Unfortunately, Kagura had never been the best at keeping silent. She had thrown her lot in with these guys, and it was about time she knew exactly how big the mess was that she had stumbled into.<p>

"Who's Kagome?" she asked, figuring that was the most obvious place to start. In response, Inuyasha accelerated to over seventy miles per hour, guiding the car recklessly down the curved road. Kagura belatedly realized that it may have been the most obvious place to start, but it was also the sorest topic to open with.

"Kagome is Inuyasha's wife. She, uh," Sango began to explain from the front passenger seat, her hand grabbing for the armrest on the door and holding on tight. Slowly, she swallowed, her eyes latched on the passing pavement illuminated only by the car's headlights. "She's a pediatrician. We left her with Miroku to keep watch while we went to meet you."

"She made the shot that got Byakuya," Miroku clarified. "It actually took her three tries to hit him after he first appeared in the doorway; did any of you notice the other two bullets? Right after we watched him collapse—her through the scope, me through the binoculars—Kagome turned to me to say something, but her eyes got real big, and then… I don't know, I came to and you all were there, but she wasn't anymore."

"I never should have dragged her into this," Inuyasha said suddenly, his voice low and gruff, hoarse from being choked from emotion. "This is all on my head," he added, solemnly. His grip was, if possible, tighter on the wheel, as though he was trying to strangle the leather.

"Inuyasha," Sango barked in a stern, clear tone, one that she probably used on her subordinates back in the government agency where she worked. It demanded attention, and it worked even on the policeman. "When you asked Kagome to meet you at the mayor's office yesterday afternoon, you had no idea what you were getting into. None of us knew it would get this far this fast," Sango said insistantly, straining to lift his spirits up to a point where they wouldn't drag the rest of them down.

"Sango's right, Inuyasha," Miroku agreed. "For better or worse, we're all in this together now. We may barely know each other, but for my part, I swear to you that I will help you do whatever needs to be done to get Kagome back." Compared to everyone else, he continued to sound very calm and practical, no matter how much worse things seemed to get. Kagome may have been their optimist, but Miroku was proving to be the logical one of the group.

"Me, too," Sango tacked on immediately, without any hesitation at all. The agent unclenched her death grip on the side of the seat in order to reach over and lay her hand on top of Inuyasha's, trying to push through his anger to show how sincere her promise was.

"What is this?" Kagura griped from the back seat, looking from face to face with an incredulous expression. "I feel like I'm on an afternoon special. Who _are _you people?"

"Agent Sango Kuwashima," the brunette introduced herself in a dry voice, tossing a look over her shoulder at the other woman. "Then again, considering you were my anonymous tipper, you should probably already know who I am. That's police officer Inuyasha Taisho, who you already know from your run-in with him two days ago, and next to you is Miroku… Miroku…"

"Miroku Tsujitani, the mayor's aide," Miroku finished for her with a charming smile. "I guess in all the excitement… Well, let's just say there hasn't been much time to really get to know one another."

"Even though I am a business owner and only indirectly a drug dealer, I still feel wildly out of place in this car," Kagura muttered, putting her hand to her temple. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers, tipped with long crimson nails, and tried hard to fight off the headache she knew would build any second. It was nearly two in the morning now, and they were all still trapped in the car with an edgy, murderous-looking man at the wheel. Perhaps, she was beginning to wonder, she went from the frying pan and into the fire, _not _to safety. "One of these things is not like the other," she mumbled in an ironic sing-song voice.

"Speaking of, why don't you tell us how you got involved with Naraku?" Sango prodded, twisting around to look Kagura directly in the eye, which was difficult to do with them all crammed into a small, moving vehicle. The two women had a small stare down, gauging how serious and trustworthy the other one was. Whatever they saw in one another must have passed inspection because both brunettes nodded resolutely to themselves.

"It's not a happy story," the shopkeeper warned, frowning lightly, looking troubled. "I was a high school dropout; I was in and out of court ordered foster care since I could walk. My parents were… they weren't good people, and we came from a bad neighborhood. I was just another statistic. I dropped out of high school in my senior year, had no place to go, and finally found myself working the streets. Naraku…" Here, now, the tough woman's voice softened noticeably, her eyes flicking away from the others and out the window instead, as though she could see in the dark glass the man she once knew. "This was about ten years ago. Naraku was just a regular cop then, and when he found me _selling myself _to sleazy creeps, he took me in instead of arresting me. Cleaned me up. Got me back on my feet."

None of the others said it, but all three had openly surprised looks on their faces. The Naraku Onigumo of Kagura's story sounded like a decent man.

"It wasn't until a few years later, after he helped me get all the permits and loans to start a small clothing boutique, that I found out what he was doing on the side. Drugs. And not just any kind of drugs, but some new, designer drug he was personally spearheading the development of. He used his connections through the police to find dealers and keep them out of jail. When I opened my shop, he started using that as the first of what would become many legitimate businesses used as a front for drug dealing. All my hard work didn't actually mean anything to him; he had just encouraged me, so he could serve himself in the end." When Kagura looked back at the others in the car now, even daring to meet Inuyasha's eyes in the rearview mirror, they could see how the softness in her gaze had turned hard and bitter, reflecting the betrayal and disgust that was bubbling up inside of her. "When a kid from my old neighborhood died from over-dosing a month ago, I knew I had to make it stop. That's about when I started calling Sango," Kagura concluded with a dismissive shrug that did not fit the situation. She easily slid back into a cool, nonchalant demeanor as though she hadn't just bared her soul to a car full of strangers.

"Why me?" Sango asked, her voice low.

Kagura gave her an analyzing look, her red-brown eyes narrowed in thought. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't remember me," she said finally, smiling when Sango looked surprised at her words. "We went to high school together. You must have been a freshman when I was a senior. Just before I dropped out, your dad came to career day and made this speech about trusting the government and all this awful, patriotic crap. I remember you because you just looked so _proud _of him, sitting on the edge of your seat, all earnest and doting. I don't know why that stood out to me, but it did. When I had to figure out who to go to a month ago, I did a little research. I knew how far Naraku's influence spread, so I had to be careful. I wasn't surprised to find out your father was now Head of the Department, and you were one of the agents listed at the agency."

"I remember that day," Sango said in a hollow voice, her eyes faded as she thought back to that moment all those years ago. "That was the day I decided I wanted to be an agent just like my dad. Unfortunately, since he was in charge, he made sure I was a desk jockey instead of a field agent. But… You mean my father wasn't on Naraku's payroll a month ago?"

Kagura shook her head. "I managed to keep Naraku from figuring out that I was the one tipping you guys off, but he still tightened security on all his business owners, including me. He _did_ realize you and your father were launching an investigation though, so he pulled some strings—got his hands on your brother. Kohaku, right? Away at college?"

Sango swallowed hard, but nodded.

"Last I heard, he was still alive," Kagura told her carefully, her fierce eyes just a little gentler. "Naraku's been using him as a bargaining chip against your father."

Sango's face crumpled into a mix of emotions that made Kagura feel uncomfortable from the weight of them, so she looked away and back out the window. She was surprised to see that while she was talking, they had slowed down considerably. The Mercedes now wove in and out of suburban neighborhoods outside the city, approaching a section of homes that were only half completed. The houses, some barely more than skeletons, had been abandoned during the latest economic downturn. Inuyasha continued to drive down an empty street, looking for something that Kagura didn't understand.

"What about the rest of you?" Kagura asked, turning away from the view of the houses. They loomed in the darkness, making her feel even more alone and blocked off from the rest of the world. "I can't be the only one with a sob story for a background."

To everyone's surprise, Miroku chuckled low in his throat. "I wish I had been lucky enough to be put in foster care," he told Kagura, a self-depreciating smile on his face as he glanced at her. They were sitting very close in the backseat, and Kagura suddenly felt claustrophobic. "I never knew my mom, and my dad took off when I was little," the aide explained, looking away from their prying eyes and out the window instead. "I was left with a friend of my dad's, an alcoholic. I'd act out all the time, and one day when I was only fourteen, I stole a car and took a joyride. When I ran a stop sign, I hit a mini-van."

Unable to help herself, Sango gasped, her brown eyes wide as she studied Miroku's profile. His jaw was set, his eyes half-lidded, and in his lap, his hands were fisted tight on his thighs. He was angry, she realized as she studied him. _Pissed_. At himself. Even so, his voice remained completely level.

"I didn't kill anyone, but a little girl broke her leg and fractured a rib in the impact. The mom's blood-thirsty lawyers wanted to try me as an adult, but I still only got a few years in a juvenile delinquency center. I don't even recognize myself from back then. I was angry and stupid—the worst kind of stupid, the kind that got others hurt. Kaede was a lawyer before she became mayor. Do any of you remember that from her campaign? Well, I was one of her last cases before she went into politics. She put everything into getting me out, getting me cleaned up, and making sure I got back on my feet. I graduated high school and made it into college on a scholarship. When she appointed me as her aide during her first term several years ago, she had to fight tooth and nail to keep me there; her advisers were worried that other politicians would use my past against her in re-elections," Miroku explained, his voice oddly empty. There was just a hint of emotion hovering beneath the surface, making the others think that maybe the mayor's aide was over-emotional about the entire thing rather than emotionless, and this was just his best way of handling it without letting his past overcome him.

"I never would have guessed that," Sango told him softly. "Even with all that's been happening since I met you, you've seemed so…"

"Calm, collected, unruffled," Inuyasha rattled off, his eyes searching the darkness ahead of them as he carefully made a turn onto an unmarked street. "It's actually almost creepy." He came dangerously close to a smile, his eyes still on the road, but then he bit his lip—and remembered Kagome.

"So we have two troubled pasts," Kagura said thoughtfully. "I feel a little less like the black sheep in this car. What about you, officer?"

With a seemingly casual shrug, Inuyasha kept his eyes averted. "I've known Kagome since I was a kid; she never let me get away with anything."

"And you, Sango?"

"My father was a government agent; I never could have—" She broke off with a choking noise, tears building in her eyes quickly as she gasped for breath, feeling like she'd been hit with a truck. The grief that she'd been successfully holding at bay since the previous afternoon overcame the shock and adrenaline and clawed its way into her throat. Only now did it fully hit her, and how it came out of nowhere made it even worse. "Oh, god, _Dad_."

Miroku reached around the seat's headrest and grabbed her shoulder, squeezing tightly; he wished they weren't buckled into a car, and he could hug her. "He might still be alive."

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed with a quick glance at the government agent. His grip had tightened on the steering wheel again, the guilt shaping his hands as he thought about pulling the trigger on Special Agent Kuwashima. "Kagome wouldn't have helped him like she did if she didn't think he'd make it once the ambulance got there."

But he was lying. Kagome was the kind of person who would help anyone, no matter what, no matter how bad their situation looked. Of course his wife wasn't perfect; she had a short temper sometimes, and she could be more stubborn than Inuyasha himself, but she was also the kind of person who volunteered at the soup kitchen on spare weekends throughout the year, wrote a check to charity once a month, and noticed all the little things that made people happy. There were so many times when they had passed a neighbor that Inuyasha couldn't remember the name of for the life of him, and yet Kagome would fall into an easy conversation, commenting on a new haircut or asking more about the person's son, knowing exactly how old he would be or what he would like for his upcoming birthday. The couple hadn't been married for long, but even during their absolute worst fight—a night when Inuyasha came home hours late after a shootout at a bank robbery, and Kagome had been on edge to the point of shouting at him when he came home, crying and yelling as if he'd worried her on purpose—there had never been a single moment in their relationship when Inuyasha wasn't thinking, _I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman_.

And now she was gone.

"This is our stop," Inuyasha announced, shutting away his guilt and grief as tightly as he could. He pulled into a driveway and flipped off the car's headlights. "This neighborhood is completely empty except for some vandals. We can camp out here until morning."

The four piled out from the car, stretching their stiff limbs and eyeing the unfinished house. Unlike some of the others, it at least had all its walls, windows, and doors. None of them were exactly sure of what they would find inside.

"Does the police patrol this area?" Sango asked, turning around to get a good look at the landscape. In the distance, she could see the city lights. Out where they were, however, it was completely dark. There weren't even streetlights. Overhead, millions of stars spilled across the sky, brighter than she'd ever seen them.

Inuyasha shook his head and yawned, sleepiness temporarily overtaking the rage he'd felt since they found Kagome missing nearly an hour earlier. The naps the group had taken at Sesshoumaru's the evening just a few short hours earlier had barely made a dent in his exhaustion, made worse by all the adrenaline crashes. "No. For the most part, it's been pretty quiet out here. Let's sleep and then in the morning, Kagura can tell us exactly how to get Naraku."

* * *

><p>Kagome was bound, gagged, and discarded on top of a chair. The only part of her body through which she could express her emotions were her eyes, which were spitting sparks of anger and hatred in Goshinki's direction. The massively large thug was leaning against the opposite wall, a smug smile on his face. His nose, jaw, and eye were heavily swollen and bruised from his struggle with Inuyasha the previous afternoon, and this was the only thing that brightened Kagome's mood. She had yet to see Naraku.<p>

For a moment, she struggled to remember what Naraku Onigumo looked like. She had seen him only once, at a benefit thrown by the police precinct. Naraku had been busy on the other end of the room, shaking hands and kissing cheeks, too busy playing Police Chief to meet all of his officers' families. That was back before Naraku cared about Inuyasha, before he and Kagome had become such an obstacle. Kagome remembered that the chief looked eerily similar to her husband's partner, Byakuya, with his long, dark, wavy hair; pale skin; narrow, dark eyes; and a smile that seemed just a little sinister no matter how friendly his words were. It was something Kagome only noticed because she thought about how bad of an idea it would be to take either man into her pediatric wing at the hospital; there was no doubt in her mind that night that the men would terrify children. Now, her amused thoughts seemed stupid compared to how dangerous the two actually were.

Well, how dangerous Naraku actually was.

Byakuya was dead.

Kagome had killed him.

For just a moment, her heart skipped a beat as she remembered the look of surprise on Byakuya's face as he reached for his chest. The bullet would have been deep inside, having torn apart skin and muscle to reach some vital area of the body. Kagome had felt no triumph, no pride in her shot. Not only was she a peaceful person by nature, but she was also a trained doctor, someone whose sole purpose was to _save _people. And she had pulled the trigger that had killed a man. How could people do that without regret?

When she'd dropped the rifle and turned to Miroku, the only thing she saw was Goshinki looming behind the mayor's aide. Before Kagome could warn her new friend, the thug had already brought a fist down hard on his head, knocking him out quickly. Then he lunged at Kagome, wrapping powerful arms around her torso. No matter how hard she kicked or how loud she shouted, Goshinki wouldn't let her go, instead slinging her over his shoulder so that he could descend the fire escape.

"Nice shot," Goshinki had praised her, looking more pleased than he should have at Byakuya's death. "How'd you learn to aim like that?"

"I was the national champ in high school archery," Kagome bit out, renewing her struggle. She connected her knees and feet with any body part she could reach, but Goshinki lumbered on, unhindered. When he stuffed her in the trunk, Kagome only managed one last shriek before she was shut into darkness.

Now, she couldn't speak at all, instead forced to stare at the ugly face of her captor and await her fate at the hands of Naraku—the root of all evil, as far as she was concerned.

Her biggest—only—comfort was the fact that Inuyasha and the others had been safe the last time she saw them. Kagome was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. She knew that her chances of escaping were slim and growing slimmer by the minute. Her life was assured only as long as Naraku thought she was useful—he'd shown no qualms about killing that kid who worked at the police station and hadn't hesitated when ordering the execution of Inuyasha at the hands of Goshinki the day before. And that was before Kagome and Inuyasha had even known what was going on!

How was it possible that men like Naraku could exist?

Kagome shuddered and stopped pulling at her restraints. The skin on her wrists was raw and parts of her hands were slick, making her think she was bleeding.

Despite how she was being held, the room she was in wasn't actually all that bad. The chair she was tied to was set up on an expensive Persian rug in a large study; the room itself was in the middle of a sprawling mansion. Naraku's. She was in Naraku's _home_, and it wasn't a cave or an industrialist warehouse or a decrepit castle. It was actually warm and welcoming, full of mahogany wood and expensive paintings and matching fabric. And this frightened her even more.

Over the past twenty-four hours, Naraku had been built up in Kagome's imagination as this evil mastermind, someone dark and sinister and larger than life. She had forgotten that he still had a façade to maintain, that of a respectable police chief. Of course his home was lovely. He probably invited politicians and other important members of society to dinner parties in the very same house he planned murders and drug deals. Everything about her situation made her sick, and Kagome had no one to turn to, no one to confide to, and no one to reassure her.

She was on her own now.

"Special Agent Kuwashima is still alive," a deep voice announced, sounding irritated. Kagome couldn't turn around to look, but she knew Naraku Onigumo was home. The voice came closer, sounding just behind her now, over her head. "He's in critical condition, but he's not dead. There are agents posted around his door, and they're not any of mine; I can't get to him."

"Well, if he can't talk," Goshinki pointed out, crossing his arms as he looked at his boss, completely ignoring Kagome now. "We'll just have to get him once he's released and hope he keeps his mouth shut until then. We still have Kohaku, right?"

"I somehow find it hard to believe that Sango Kuwashima would shoot her own father," Naraku continued slowly, thoughtfully. He laid a hand on Kagome's shoulder, chuckling low in his throat when she flinched away from his touch. "I'm sure that troublesome Inuyasha had something to do with it. What did you ever see in that man, Kagome?" Now, Naraku's lips were right beside her ear, and his hand lifted from her shoulder to tenderly stroke her cheek. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut tight and strained away from him as hard as she could. Even if she hadn't been gagged, she wouldn't have answered. "He's loud and brash and a little violent," Naraku continued, his voice soft and husky as he continued to speak into the woman's hair, his breath warming her skin and raising goosebumps along her arms and inciting a shiver down her spine.

Finally, Kagome felt the gag loosen.

When it fell away, she struggled to gulp, to wet her lips and throat so that she could talk.

"You'll never get away with this," she snapped, her voice weak and hoarse and pathetic. Desperately, she craved a glass of water. Kagome forcefully swallowed again.

"What a very dramatic thing to say," Naraku responded with a chuckle, walking around the chair to stand in front of her. Both of them studied the other, their eyes judging what they saw. "You really are very beautiful," he said with a slow smile, one that sent more shivers down Kagome's spine.

"My husband seems to think so, too," Kagome whispered, turning her eyes away. Her stomach dropped, and she felt more uncomfortable than she ever had in her entire life. The way he looked at her made her feel nauseous, as though his eyes were violating her.

Suddenly, Kagome wished fiercely that she had told Inuyasha that she was pregnant. She'd known for almost a week, but she'd been too busy trying to find the "perfect" way to tell him, entertaining ideas of a romantic dinner or a night on the town that ended with her little announcement. Daydream after daydream had distracted her at work, each one greater than the last as she tried to word what she wanted to say in just the right way. There had been no doubt in her mind that he would be thrilled.

Inuyasha would make an amazing father, and her heart warmed with the thought of it. But before she could tell him, he started acting distant, distracted, and confused because of Byakuya. And then, within only two days, their world had been turned upside down, and they were suddenly on the run with absolutely nowhere to go. When was she supposed to tell him? In the mayor's office as they argued with the receptionist? In the seedy motel while Sango explained who she was and what she knew? At Sesshoumaru's, once both Sango and Miroku had figured out her little secret so easily when Inuyasha had failed to notice anything for a week?

A small part of her wished he'd paid as much attention to her as he had Byakuya's illness, caused by (she now knew) the drugs he was helping Naraku sell to the city. Inuyasha was a good husband and a good cop, but he could be surprisingly dense when it came to the most important things. He was awful with dates, like birthdays and anniversaries. The man was good at connecting the dots and seeing the big picture, but sometimes that meant he overlooked the most obvious little things.

Like the fact that his wife was carrying their child.

Then again, she was only just pregnant enough to know that she was pregnant—which meant she didn't show at all and her behavior, like appetite and morning sickness, had been barely affected.

With everything in her, Kagome hoped that Naraku was just as bad at seeing the little things. She didn't know what she would do if he figured out her secret.

* * *

><p>"Please tell me you came up with a plan," Inuyasha grumbled as he entered the unfinished kitchen. It looked gutted without any appliances, but that left more room for the four people to spread out around the room. The water wasn't running in the incomplete house, so none of them had been able to wash up or even get a drink. Even worse, there was no food for them to eat, to increase their energy and quiet their rumbling stomachs that hadn't been tended to since they left Sesshoumaru's home the evening before. A nomad existence wasn't something that came easily to a group of three people who held jobs and had homes, so they had packed up plenty of weapons looted from Sesshoumaru's collection, but they had not thought to pack food.<p>

"Why, yes, of course, Officer Taisho," Kagura said from her seat at the counter, her wry tone indicated that what she was about to say would be neither nice nor serious. During the night, her makeup had faded, and without all the eyeliner and mascara, her red-brown eyes looked small and her face seemed much more fragile than before. In the modern era, makeup was almost like war paint. "During my very comfortable, deep sleep on the _floor _of a creepy, abandoned, half-constructed house, I managed to come up with a very detailed, fool-proof plan to take down Naraku and save your wife."

"Ah," Inuyasha responded, his heavy black eyebrows raised to his hairline in a dry look. "Sarcasm. So helpful."

"Bite me," Kagura snapped, rubbing at her eyes with her fingers. The fiery woman looked tired and frail, which only seemed to fuel her anger at her situation. She was a strong, independent woman who had been reduced to a mess by Naraku after he had helped build her up, and now these strangers were the ones who saw her in such a state. "May I remind you that I am a small business owner, not a trained police officer or government agent."

"You're also a criminal, and I was under the impression that criminals were crafty," the policeman bit back heatedly.

"Settle down!" Miroku demanded, holding out his hands and gesturing to the two bickering adults as though he could force them to behave through the sheer force of will. "None of us are in great shape," he pointed out logically, fighting to keep his voice level. "Sango's suffering from grief, Inuyasha doesn't know where his wife is, Kagura's being forced to trust people she doesn't even know, and I am completely out of my element here. Not to mention that there is a psychotic _asshole_ after all of us."

"Miroku's right," Sango agreed in a tired voice. She was hunched over by the sliding glass door that led to a bare and very dead-looking backyard. The emptiness in her eyes made her look a little defeated, but her voice still had an edge of steely determination behind it. "We aren't going to get anywhere by arguing. I didn't get much sleep last night," she said vaguely, not mentioning that every time she closed her eyes she saw her father bleeding out on the floor of a motel room, "so I gave this some thought. We can't get Naraku in public, so the police station and his home are no-gos. What we need to do, I think, is draw him out in the open. He knows we're alive, he knows we know, and he knows we're angry. Naraku Onigumo has got to want to get rid of us as much as we want to get rid of him, so if we make a commotion, he'll come for us. The question is, where is the best place to do that?"

They all fell silent, averting their eyes and staring at the walls or ceiling instead of at one another.

"How about one of his factories? Where he makes the drugs?" Kagura suggested finally, looking around at the others. She met each of their eyes, striving to convey the most trustworthy certainness that she could. It was a two-way street. If she was having trouble trusting them, then she knew they must be having trouble trusting her. "If we threaten his product, won't that make him even more likely to come after us?"

"Probably," Inuyasha grudgingly agreed. "We just have to hope that he comes after us himself and doesn't send more thugs."

"Oh, for us, I bet he'll want to do the dirty work himself," Kagura replied with a knowing smile. "Especially if we make sure he knows I'm on your side now."

Sango pushed away from the wall and ran her hand through her long, brown hair distractedly. "We better hope this works because I'm not sure we'll get a chance to use any Plan B."


	8. it's the time it takes to blow away

I am writing this on four hours of sleep. Did anyone else go and see the midnight premiere of the last Harry Potter movie?

Oh! I used the word "soccer" because most of my readers are American, but I promise that I realize that the rest of the world calls it football. It's not an important/big part of this chapter, but I just wanted to put that out there.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

* * *

><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Chapter Seven: it's the time it takes to blow away

* * *

><p>Deep in her heart of hearts, Kagome knew she was dreaming. Perhaps she was just remembering. Or maybe, just maybe, it was a little bit of both.<p>

_"Why are you in such a good mood?" Inuyasha griped. He was walking beside her, his long, unusually-colored hair in a braid down his back and his hands shoved deep in his uniform's pockets. The two were on their way to school, passing underneath a row of blooming sakura trees; the pink petals drifted lazily to the ground and dusted the concrete at their feet._

_Kagome could tell by her school uniform that she was fourteen years old; she remembered the skirt in particular, the way it swished around her legs as she walked, making her feel pretty and feminine. She especially remembered the first time she'd put it on, wondering what Inuyasha would think about it as a blush warmed her cheeks._

_They walked to school together every day, just like they had for four years since they first became best friends._

_She remembered that day, the day she was reliving—the sakura trees and the way Inuyasha seemed so nervous even though she knew for a fact that there were no exams that day to make him anxious. It was the day he kissed her for the first time._

_It was also only a week before his mother, Izayoi, died, and he had to move away._

_But fourteen-year-old Kagome didn't know that right then. All she knew was that she walking to school on a beautiful day with her best friend, a boy that she couldn't imagine living without._

_"I don't know," Kagome answered, wrapping her arms round herself and tilting her face toward the sun. "It's really nice out today, right?"_

_"Eh, I guess," the boy muttered, glancing at her. One look at her cheerful smile and the way her long eyelashes brushed her cheek, and he quickly looked away. The way her lips curved and how pink they were made something flutter in his stomach, something that wasn't there only a few months earlier. "Yeah," he mumbled, blushing despite his stubborn attempts not to. "It's… it's pretty."_

_Kagome smiled wider, peeking at her best friend from the corner of her eye. In the last year, he'd grown a lot taller than her—he was also broad in the shoulders. Lately, he was becoming pretty popular with the rest of his classmates. Despite his brusque and admittedly rude attitude, he'd been drawing a lot of attention with his athleticism—the soccer coach had recently made him captain of the team. Even more obvious was the way some of the girls in Kagome's class had been looking at him, gossiping about him and giggling stupidly if he so much as glanced their way._

_"How's your mom doing?" she asked, carefully keeping her voice upbeat. Izayoi had been looking very pale lately and had even fainted a few weeks earlier, hitting her head on the kitchen counter on the way down; if Inuyasha and Kagome hadn't been there, the doctors said she might have died. Unfortunately, the fainting was only a symptom of what seemed to be a much larger problem._

_Inuyasha hesitated before answering, swallowing hard as he pictured the beautiful, serene face of his mother. "Better, I think; she had a really good appetite this morning."_

_"Mama said she'd check on her later today," Kagome promised. "I think she's bringing soup."_

_The two shared a smile, and Kagome moved to bump her shoulder playfully with his—that is, she tried to; she again thought about how much taller Inuyasha was when her shoulder collided with his upper arm instead._

_"You feeling okay?" she asked. The school building loomed ahead of them, looking far less intimidating that usual through the swirl of sakura petals. "You're awfully quiet."_

_It may have been her imagination, but Inuyasha was blushing, averting his eyes to the blue sky overhead. "I'm fine," he insisted, his voice extra grouchy. After only a few seconds, however, he stopped walking and just stood there in the middle of the path, now staring at his feet._

_Stumbling to a halt and backtracking, Kagome stood toe-to-toe with him and peered upward, trying to get a look at his face, feeling even more worried. What if whatever Izayoi had was contagious? What if he got sick, too?_

_Before she could press the issue, insisting more forcefully he tell her what was wrong, Inuyasha lifted up his hands and gripped her shoulders. In what seemed like slow motion, he tugged Kagome to him and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers in a sweet, chaste kiss. When he pulled away, he was blushing furiously and looked surprised by his own actions._

_"Oh, god, Kagome, I'm so—!"_

_"Don't you say you're sorry," Kagome interrupted, blushing just a bit herself. With a laugh, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, there amongst the sakura trees. "The girls at school are just going to _hate_ me," she declared, grinning madly at her best friend; he had a sort of half-shocked, half-awed smile on his face as well._

_"Well… want to make them _really_ hate you?" Inuyasha asked, leaning forward for a third kiss._

_"You read my mind."_

* * *

><p>"Wakey, wakey," someone growled in Kagome's ear, startling her awake.<p>

She blinked groggily, forcing her blurry vision to focus. After sleeping tied to a chair, her entire body was stiff and sore, and she knew without a doubt that her hands and feet would hurt once she got circulation back in them. The most horrifying part of waking up a captive was the face looming over hers.

Goshinki.

"Good morning," Kagome mumbled, leaning back as far away from him as her bindings would allow. Up close, he was even more grotesque. It made her stomach churn, and if she'd eaten anything, Kagome probably would have thrown up. Her sluggish mind took several minutes to process her situation, reminding her of the last twenty-four hours—the confrontation in the alleyway, Sango's father's death—

No, wait, Naraku had said something earlier about how he was still alive at the hospital. Special Agent Kuwashima had made it; at least, for now anyway.

"Where's Naraku?" Kagome asked, studying the room around her. Goshinki was the only one with her, and she couldn't hear noises from any other part of the house.

The thug examined her for several minutes, trying to decide just how dangerous she was. Considering the petite woman was tied to a chair, he doubted she was much of a threat—probably wasn't much of one unbound either. "Taking care of business," he told her finally.

"Are we talking about the drug business? The killing people business? Or his fake police chief business?"

"Naraku Onigumo takes all his work very seriously," Goshinki snapped, disliking her snarky comments. "He deserves your respect."

"Yeah, the respect of my foot up his—!"

"Watch it," the lackey growled, shoving his face very close to the captive's. His breath, warm and rank, washed over her face until Kagome was forced to stop breathing; her stomach churned again. "Pretty soon, your husband and those little _friends _of yours are going to be dead. And then it will be your turn."

Her mind racing, Kagome forced herself to keep a straight face. Goshinki, she thought, had an anger management problem. He was rash and impulsive and violent—because those were all the things a good thug was. They were also stupid. (At least, she really hoped he was stupid. They hadn't spent enough time together for Kagome to properly gauge his intelligence.) It gave her something to work with.

"Why don't you just take care of me now?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in a way she prayed looked challenging.

"Excuse me?"

Kagome titled her head and smirked, mirroring the expression she'd seen Inuyasha wear so many times. "I said, why don't you just man up and kill me yourself? What, you need to wait for Naraku's _orders_? Are you a dog or something?"

"_What was that_?" Goshinki snapped, his low voice even lower, and grabbed onto the armrests on either side of Kagome. He leaned in real close, his long nose bumping against her cheek as he leveled her with a glare so heated that Kagome started to lose her nerve.

Started to. But didn't completely.

"Are you," Kagome said very slowly, holding onto the last shred of calmness she had in her, "A little, cowardly, _obedient_ puppy?"

With a feral growl, the thug backhanded her. Kagome's head bounced off the back of the chair, and she saw stars. A small part of her regretted this plan—then again, she hadn't had much time to come up with a better one. Frantically, the woman fought to keep her hold on her confidence (and her consciousness) and swallowed hard as she felt Goshinki rip through the knots that kept her tied to the chair.

As soon as she was loose, Naraku's lackey grabbed her by her long hair, right at the base of her neck, and dragged her from her sitting position, tossing her easily several feet away. Kagome slid along the carpet, and her skin burned with the friction. As Goshinki stalked toward her, his massive form looming, Kagome stumbled to her feet.

On the fireplace mantle behind her were several expensive looking knickknacks. Grateful that she was free—which was, after all, why she'd pissed Goshinki off; she'd hoped it would push him to release her. He looked like a guy who liked to toss his victim around a bit—Kagome reached for the first thing she could. Her hands closed around a large blue and white vase, and she turned on her heel. Smashing the vase over Goshinki's head, she felt the palm of her hand slice open on a piece of broken pottery.

The thug stumbled but didn't go down. An enraged shout tore itself from his throat, and Goshinki lunged for her, his big hands easily encircling her waist. Kagome jerked away from him, ripping the hem of her blouse. As she struggled to get away from him, she lost one of her shoes; unblananced, Kagome tripped and fell to the floor, hitting her temple against the tile in front of the fireplace.

Goshinki was laughing. "I can't believe you tried to fight back!" he roared, amused. A sick smile twisted his face as he took a step toward her, standing over her sprawled body.

"Can't blame a girl for trying," Kagome gasped. Her cheek was pressed against the tile, and it was cool on her skin. Her eyes went in and out of focus, so it took her several seconds to realize she was staring at a display of ornate fireplace tending tools.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Goshinki warned, his voice husky. Both of his hands reached out for her throat, wrapping around her windpipe and bruising the skin.

"So am I," she whispered, her voice hoarse and constricted. Kagome grappled behind her until her hand closed over the handle of a fire poker. With a snarl, she pulled it from the display and whipped the long metal rod at Goshinki's face, connecting with his skull with a wet _thud_.

He didn't even make a sound as he collapsed; the thug's grip loosened.

Panting, Kagome unclenched his fingers from around her throat and crawled away, slumping against the nearest wall. She only gave herself a minute to rest, however, until she was back on her feet. Impatiently, she tore off her second heel and padded from the room barefoot. It took more than ten minutes for her to track down a phone, but when she finally did, she stared at it.

Who could she possibly call?

In the short time she knew them, Kagome hadn't learned Sango's or Miroku's cell phone numbers. Inuyasha's phone was still in his car, parked outside the mayor's office.

Finally, realization dawned, and Kagome punched in a number on the dial pad. It was time to call in the calvary.

"Sesshoumaru? It's Kagome."

* * *

><p>"How do we know which factory Naraku is holding Kagome at?" Miroku asked, peering through binoculars at a large, nondescript building. They were in the industrial section of town, and the brick building blended right in with its neighbors. The four were sitting in the car a little ways away, staking out the situation.<p>

"That's the problem," Inuyasha muttered. "We don't."

"I chose this one for our plan because it was Naraku's first. I think it might hold sentimental value for him or something," Kagura explained with a sneer, eyeing the factory with distaste. She'd armed herself to the teeth from the cache of weapons Inuyasha had put in the trunk, but the policeman had warned her that their goal was not to kill anyone—except maybe Naraku, but only if absolutely necessary.

_"Aim for non-vital areas of the body," Inuyasha had instructed all of them back at the empty house, loading a fresh clip into his handgun. He had traded in the revolver he'd lifted off that thug Goshinki in the alleyway earlier._

_"What am I, a doctor?" Kagura demanded while examining the gun Sango had handed her. It seemed small and harmless in her hands. Despite her troubled childhood, she'd never actually fired a weapon before. "How am I supposed to what's a 'non-vital part of the body'?"_

_"Aim for the feet or hands," the cop snapped impatiently._

_"Oh, sure, tell us to go for the smallest, quickest moving targets," Miroku muttered under his breath, ignoring the glare Inuyasha sent him. The mayor's aide was holding his own gun out in front of his body, upside down with two fingers as though he was afraid it was going to bite him._

"I wasn't aware Naraku had a heart to _feel _sentimental value," Sango quipped from the back seat, bringing their attention back to their current conversation.

Miroku lowered the binoculars and glanced back at the government agent, and the two shared a smile at her joke. Both Kagura and Inuyasha rolled their eyes, wondering when on earth they had stumbled into a romantic comedy. A flash of Kagome's face caught Inuyasha by surprise; she would have been giddy at seeing the connection between their two new acquaintances. For as long as he'd known her, Kagome had been a romantic. It was one of the things Inuyasha pretended to be annoyed by, but really, it was one of his wife's most endearing qualities.

"Can we go over the plan one more time?" Miroku requested. His face was its usual calm, but his voice was an octave too low to sound normal.

"We go in," Inuyasha began, humoring him. He shot the mayor's aide a supportive glance, knowing that's what Kagome would have done. "Tell everyone to get on the ground. Find the head guy and demand he call Naraku."

"Make sure to mention I'm with you guys," Kagura added with a smile, thinking about the look on her boyfriend's face when he realized she'd turned on him. It sent a thrill down her spine.

"How do we get Naraku to come with us?" Miroku pointed out logically. "What if he shows up with reinforcements?"

Now, Sango chimed in. "I say we threaten to blow this place up; I bet he'll be more willing to come with us if it means saving a lot of his money."

"He _is_ a greedy bastard," Kagura shared.

"Plus, he'll probably have some plan up his sleeve," Sango continued. "It'll make him feel confident, don't you think?"

"Probably," Inuyasha agreed, narrowing his eyes. He had been watching the front of the factory, counting how many people entered the building. Since they'd shown up at sunrise, twelve men had gone in. Some of them could be armed, but he doubted more than one or two of them would have guns on them. If anything, the other workers might have knives. "I bet he'd be the kind of guy who would stab you right in the back as soon as you let your guard down."

Kagura said, "Oh, he is; I've seen him do it once."

Sango couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked the other woman, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'll enjoy it more if it ends with Naraku dead."

"Ah," Sango said, looking away. A large part of her agreed with Kagura, and the fierce bloodthirstiness she found in herself shook her to the core. "Well, we need him alive. It'll be easier to put an end to everything and prove our innocence. We haven't exactly acted like upstanding citizens, you know? We need to establish that we were acting in self-defense and for the greater good. If Naraku's dead, that'll be a lot harder."

"Plus, I'd love to see Sesshoumaru grill him on the witness stand at trial," Inuyasha added with a malicious grin. "Can you picture it?"

"I guess that's alright by me. I bet he'll make lots of friends in prison, too," Kagura consented. "The other inmates will just love him."

The four shared a good laugh, but when it ended, they were all very quiet. The factory seemed so still in the distance, but there was a good chance that one or more of them might die in the confrontation. So far, they had been extraordinarily lucky. Inuyasha, personally, was hoping that luck was holding for Kagome, too. In the few hours they'd be separated, a heavy weight had settled in his chest, pressing hard on his heart. The idea of not waking up to her face every morning…

He couldn't even imagine it.

On the drive to the factory at dawn, he'd begun to think about it, and it was as if his brain just shut down. Inuyasha wouldn't accept it because Kagome was fine.

She had to be.

"It's time to go," he told them softly, opening the car door.

Miroku squeezed his eyes shut and said a quick prayer before hopping out himself. When this was all over, he promised himself, he would ask Kaede for a vacation—a nice, long, expensive vacation. Maybe he could even talk Sango into going with him, so they could get to know one another better. The idea put a smile on his face, and the mayor's aide struggled to remind himself that now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.

"Everyone ready?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango and Kagura nodded, their faces set, but Miroku adopted a joking smile. "You sure you guys don't want me to hang back again? I'm getting pretty good with the binoculars."

Inuyasha shot him a dry, exasperated look before walking away, expecting the others to follow his lead.

* * *

><p>Kagome waited for Sesshoumaru on the steps of Naraku's manor. Her heels, scuffed and one with a broken strap, sat next to her while she hugged her knees to her chest. When the expensive, silver car pulled up to the curb and the tinted window rolled down, the woman got to her feet. In her defense, she only swayed a little.<p>

"Kagome," her brother-in-law greeted her, his expression as stern as always.

"Hi, Sesshoumaru," she greeted back, attempting a tremulous smile.

"Do you need medical attention?"

"Probably," she mumbled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear tiredly. "But you should see the other guy."

The older Taisho man didn't even crack a smile at her weak joke. "I will call the proper authorities; we will wait for them here and let you get checked by a paramedic."

"And then we'll find Inuyasha?"

"And then we'll find my _car_," Sesshoumaru corrected dryly, turning off his engine and stepping from the Porsche. Once he was at his full height, he looked over the silver roof at Kagome. "My brother shouldn't be far from it."

"Thanks for changing your mind about helping us," she said quietly, glancing back down at her feet. They were dirty and bleeding, and there was a blister along the back of one of her heels.

"Oh, I haven't. However, from what you've told me, you have now attempted to kill _two _men. I believe it is time you got a proper lawyer." Sesshoumaru was very good at being straightforward, and he didn't even flinch at the way Kagome blanched and swooned on her feet, the sheer weight of her actions coming down hard on her shoulders. "You should know that Byakuya is still alive. He is in a coma and not expected to last the night, but the fact that you shot to stop and not to kill will be in your favor."

"And Goshinki?"

"Self-defense," the assistant district attorney said dismissively, taking his phone from his pocket. "I'm afraid even my far-reaching connections have not established who is trustworthy and who is not. Do you have any police officers you can recommend that I request?"

"Oh, well," Kagome said faintly, still unsteady. Exhaustion and regret left her feeling light-headed. "Hojo and Jinenji."

Sesshoumaru nodded before turning his back on his sister-in-law, giving her the privacy she needed when the tears finally overwhelmed her. He had a very short, very stern conversation with someone before he glanced back at Kagome.

"Kagome," he said to her, his voice commanding her attention; she glanced at him through teary eyes. "Remember that you are a _good _person."

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice broken, knowing that if Sesshoumaru said it then it must be true. He wasn't, after all, one of those soft, lying types.

"Now go sit somewhere out of the way," he ordered. Inuyasha couldn't show up soon enough in his opinion.

* * *

><p>Somewhere along the line, their plan had gone south.<p>

"Damn it," Inuyasha muttered, pressing one hand to his shoulder to stem the blood flow from a knife wound. He'd been right in assuming some of the employees might be armed because one man, a particularly burly one named Manten, pulled out a box cutter and drove it straight toward his chest when asked to get on the ground. In response, Inuyasha had pistol whipped the guy.

"Who the hell are you?" another man, a young brunette, demanded as he dropped to his knees over his fallen coworker. Hiten, his nametag read. (Vaguely through his pain, Inuyasha wondered why drug manufactures had nametags on their jumpsuits.) "How could you do that to my brother?"

"He stabbed me!" Inuyasha snapped, incredulous.

"Well, you pulled a gun on him! That's illegal," Hiten snapped right back.

"Actually, as a cop, I have a license to carry a firearm," the policeman argued hotly. In the background, Kagura and Sango shared a stunned look; both women, and Miroku, had their guns trained on the other employees, who had all dropped to the floor of the factory without a fight.

"You're a _cop_," Hiten said, his eyebrows raised to his hairline in surprise. "You're a cop, and you just pistol whipped someone."

"Yeah, someone who _stabbed_ me. And trust me, I have worse problems than some criminal accusing me of police brutality."

"Look, what do you want?" Hiten demanded, getting to his feet and holding his hands up in front of him.

"Give your boss a call and tell him that he has an _appointment_ here."

"Oh, and mention that Kagura's here, too," she called out, looking pleased with herself.

"That won't be necessary," someone said.

Everyone looked to the open door of the factory and found Naraku looming in the doorway, the sun behind him so that his figure was shadowed. When he stepped into the room, the florescent lighting showed that he was wearing his police chief uniform like some sick caricature of a real officer.

"Inuyasha," he said, sounding almost sympathetic, "you look a little worse for wear."

"Just a flesh wound," the officer snapped, turning his gun from Hiten and onto Naraku Onigumo. "Where's Kagome?"

"Oh, I left her with Goshinki; I'm sure he's having a little fun with her as we speak."

Enraged, Inuyasha fired a warning shot at the wall next to Naraku's head; the man didn't even flinch, which was, to his credit, rather impressive. "You will bring Kagome to me _right now_."

"Oh, Inuyasha," Naraku scolded, taking a step down into the factory toward them. He didn't even spare a glance at any of the others. "What was your plan? If you kill me, you'll just look like some rogue cop. They'll give you the death sentence for killing the chief. You have absolutely no proof, and by the time any police made it here, there wouldn't be any evidence to be found. Even if there was anything left behind, my loyal employees would help cover it all up. I mean," and here he chuckled, taking another step down, "how could you possibly prove I'm the bad guy in all of this?"

"I'll testify in court," Kagura snapped, stepping forward to Inuyasha's side. Her grip was dangerously tight on the gun in her hands.

"No one will believe an addict like you," Naraku pointed out with a sneer.

"I strongly suggest you come with us," Sango bluffed, gesturing around herself with her own weapon. "We've got this place rigged with enough explosives to make a crater."

"Oh, I doubt you had enough notice to get any C-4. Plus, none of you are that well-connected."

"My father is—_was_—head of the department; I could get my hands on anything I wanted within hours. Trust me, I'm plenty pissed off enough to ruin you," the brunette growled. "Because of you, my brother's missing and my father's dead."

"Oh, Special Agent Kuwashima is still alive. I actually find that preferable since it means I can kill him myself once he's released from the hospital. I will also get to see the look on his face when he finds out I killed his precious daughter. And Kohaku? A snap of my fingers, and he's dead."

"_Where is he_?" Sango hissed.

"With Kagome, even if she doesn't know it. Kohaku's been locked in my basement for weeks now, getting fed slop through a little window like some criminal."

"You know what? I'm tired of this," Inuyasha interrupted. "Thanks for telling us what we needed to know. I think I'll end this now."

His gun lowered several inches, and the policeman shot his boss in his left calf. Naraku stumbled down a step but didn't fall, so Inuyasha shot out the opposite kneecap. Police Chief Naraku Onigumo fell down the stairs and crumpled in a heap at the bottom but then lay very still.

"Get on the ground," Inuyasha snapped at Hiten, who, stunned, did as ordered.

The four approached Naraku, Kagura reaching out with the tip of her shoe and prodding him in the shoulder. He didn't move. "Think he's dead?" Kagura asked, raising her eyebrows at the others.

"He shouldn't be," Inuyasha muttered, dropping to his knees to check the chief's vitals. Just as he got within a few inches of Naraku's neck, the man jerked onto his back, leveling a gun at Inuyasha's head. Before he could pull the trigger, there was a sharp _crack_ of a gunshot from behind them—with a howl, Naraku dropped his weapon, cradling his bleeding hand to his chest.

Surprised, Sango looked around, only to find Miroku standing there shocked with his gun still held out in front of himself.

"You said aim for hands and feet," he mumbled vaguely before dropping his gun and wiping his hands on his slacks quickly, like he was trying to scrub away the sensation of shooting someone. "I can't believe I just shot a man."

It was only moments later that the thunderous roar of many police sirens filled the factory, echoing off the ceiling. Men burst in from every entrance, guns held at the ready. Quickly, Inuyasha and the others dropped their weapons and held their hands up. It was a swarm of activity as wave after wave of policemen, government agents, and paramedics flooded the building.

Out of the crowd, Hojo appeared, looking very young and fresh and doe-eyed in his uniform.

"Arrest this man!" Inuyasha ordered, pointing to Naraku.

"The chief?" Hojo echoed, joined shortly by Jinenji. They shared a glance before turning back to Inuyasha.

"Yes, damn it, cuff him already!"

"Uh, you got it, Officer Taisho," Hojo agreed hastily, fumbling for his handcuffs. He even apologized when Naraku yelled in pain when the cuff closed over his injured hand.

Inuyasha wasn't sure if he was relieved or irritated when Sesshoumaru walked in, zeroing in on their group within seconds. However, walking along in the lawyer's wake was the most welcome sight he'd ever seen—Kagome, looking a little beat up and tired but in one piece. Next to her was a gangly, freckled, brown-haired boy whose appearance made Sango go very still.

"Kohaku!" the government agent shouted, elbowing her way through the crowd of officials and racing to her brother.

"We found him in the basement," Kagome explained, stepping out of the brunette's way so that the siblings could embrace in a tearful reunion.

"Oh, thank god," Inuyasha said in a low voice, sweeping his wife up into a hug. He folded her within his arms, tucking her under his chin to remind himself just how perfectly they fit together. With a laugh, Kagome clung to the front of his shirt, allowing herself to cry; they were happy tears.

"You need to be aware, little brother," Sesshoumaru told him, standing beside the couple and ignoring their open display of affection, "that this is going to take a lot of paperwork."

"For once, I don't think I'll mind," Inuyasha muttered, his eyes closed, enjoying the feel of Kagome in his arms, the way it made his heart skip a beat and his breathing speed up and slow down all at once.

"This is going to be a long and exhausting trial," the assistant district attorney continued warningly.

"Ah, well, I guess that just means we'll see a lot more of each other," Miroku joked weakly, walking up behind the couple. "Who knows? Maybe we'll become the best of friends. At least we know we can trust one another while the rest of this conspiracy gets unraveled."

"The mayor's aide," Sesshoumaru greeted, having met the other man on several occasions for business reasons. Looking over Miroku's shoulder, he spotted Kagura, who was watching them lead Naraku away with a darkly amused look on her face. "And who are you?"

"Your star witness," Kagura introduced herself, offering her manicured hand with a seductive smile. "I always did like lawyers."

Sango walked back over, her arm slung around her brother's shoulders. They wore twin looks of relief on their faces.

It was right about then that Kagome realized that Inuyasha was bleeding all over her. "Inuyasha…?"

"Flesh wound," he reassured her. "And that outfit of yours is ruined anyway, so what's a little more blood?"

She laughed, pulling away just long enough to resettle against his uninjured side. "So, what now?"

"Hours and hours of interviews, paperwork, and debriefing," Sesshoumaru informed all them. "By the time we finish—who knows, Inuyasha, you might be a father."

"You know, too?" Kagome gaped openly. "How is it that everyone knows?"

"I wasn't aware that it was a secret," the lawyer pointed out.

"What's a secret?" Inuyasha asked, looking around at everyone; the only people who didn't seem to know what was going on were Kagura and Kohaku.

"Oh, you see, dear," Kagome began gently, "there's something I've been meaning to tell you."


	9. and so it begins

Yes, this is the end, my friends. Sorry for the delay in posting it; it took a little longer to figure out what I wanted to write than I expected. Look for more stories by me in the coming weeks. Thank you for all of your support during this short story!

Unlike the other chapters, the epilogue's title and the lyrics come from Jupiter One's _Countdown_.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_.

* * *

><p><strong>Blow Away<strong>

Epilogue: and so it begins…

* * *

><p><em>Hey now, wake up!<em>  
><em>It's a beautiful day.<em>  
><em>Hey now, look up!<em>  
><em>You're always turning away.<em>  
><em>Are you falling asleep?<em>  
><em>Hey now, wake up!<em>  
><em>Are you looking away?<em>  
><em>Hey now, look up!<em>  
><em>Are you watching?<em>  
><em>It's a brand new day,<em>  
><em>And you shouldn't be fading away.<em>

* * *

><p>Although it didn't take nine months to complete all the paperwork, it did take an extraordinarily long time to complete all the trials and associated workload.<p>

For the first several months, no one saw much of anyone. Sango was busy helping shoulder the workload while her father recovered from his injuries. Without a hitman waiting for him once he was released from the hospital, Special Agent Kuwashima had a long life to look forward to. On her end of things, Sango was finally promoted to field agent.

Miroku got his vacation, but he had to take it alone—the mayor's aide had yet to find the courage to ask out the admittedly very intimidating government agent. He was trying, though.

Goshinki survived his injuries and was transferred from the intensive care unit to the jail hospital as soon as he was stable. Byakuya, however, died from his gunshot wound before even arriving at the emergency room. Sometimes, the look on his face as she collapsed still haunted Kagome in her sleep, but it was starting to get better. Sesshoumaru had handled her case with the same grace he handled the several others that rose in the wake of Naraku's arrest. Charges against Kagome for her assault on the two thugs were dropped (the assistant district attorney theorized that Kagome's pregnancy during the trial had helped with the jury), and Naraku had been sentenced to life in jail. Three separate times.

With Kagura's help, all of the factories producing the new designer drug were shut down. After production was cut off and the drug supply was mostly confiscated by police, what was left disappeared into the underbelly of the city. Kagura was also useful in locating and arresting many of Naraku's accomplices. In return for her cooperation with the takedown of Naraku as well as the investigation afterwards, all charges against Kagura were dropped and most of her earlier crimes were expunged from her record.

It was a good thing, too, since some of the more gossipy city newspapers were reporting that the ADA Sesshoumaru Taisho was seen "gallivanting" around town with the stunning, red-eyed business owner.

As for the baby…

_"What's a secret?" Inuyasha demanded the night Naraku was arrested, looking around at everyone in bewilderment. There was no way there was something else, another conspiracy, going on; he was just too tired from the last one._

_"Oh, you see, dear," Kagome began gently in a sort of fidgety voice, reaching her hand out to placate her husband—or hold him in place in case he fainted or something. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."_

_The policeman narrowed his eyes and since they were that warm, amber color, the effect was even more intense. No wonder so many people broke down when faced with him in an interrogation room. He was an intimidating man. Fortunately for Kagome, she'd known him since before he'd developed the attitude, so she was more than equipped to deal with him. "What have you not told me, _dear_?"_

_"Oh, it's good news!" Kagome assured him before hesitating. "Well, I think it's good news. I guess we'll find out if you agree with me or not."_

_"Just tell me already!"_

_"Fine! I'm pregnant."_

_Inuyasha visibly staggered, looking like his petite wife had just socked him in the gut. "You're what?"_

_"Pregnant. As in, with child," Miroku clarified immediately from his vantage point in the peanut gallery. His interruption earned him a glare from the couple._

_"I think I need to sit down," Inuyasha said faintly, locating a chair nearby in the factory and collapsing into it._

_"After all this," Sesshoumaru pointed out coldly, one eyebrow quirked at his little brother as he swept an arm around the room to indicate the chaos surrounding them, "you are brought down by the idea of becoming a father?"_

_"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, her voice worried. She stood in front of her husband, trying to gauge how he really felt about this development. …Could he actually be unhappy? His expression seemed more shocked than anything else. "Are you okay with this?"_

_"Okay?" the policeman echoed. "_Okay_? Kagome, the idea that you're pregnant…? It just made everything better." He snapped his fingers, the sharp _crack _making everyone jump in surprise. "Just like that. Everything's fixed." Then the way he smiled—really, truly smiled in that way that made his eyes light up and the skin at the corners of them crinkle—made everyone else feel like it was all going to be okay, no matter how much paperwork and how many trials they would be forced to deal with in the coming months._

_"You're going to be a father."_

_"I'm going to be a dad," Inuyasha agreed, reaching his arms out and wrapping them around his wife. He pulled her toward him, where he was seated, and rested his forehead against her abdomen. For several moments, everyone was very quiet, enjoying the nice, relaxing, peaceful, pleasant moment and forgetting about all the things they'd had to endure over the past twenty-four hours. Finally, Inuyasha spoke again, looking up at Kagome with a very perplexed expression. "Wait, does this mean we don't have to hire a pediatrician?"_

Shortly after the final trial wound down, Inuyasha and Kagome's son was born. He looked just like his mother, but he had his father's eyes. Everyone expected him to have a good set of lungs on him and a stubborn streak as wide as both of his parents'.

It was on a night of celebration that the group got together for the first of many blowouts.

* * *

><p>"I'll get it!" Kagome shouted, navigating her way through her small house toward the front door after someone rang the doorbell. Faintly, she could hear her husband shout something back at her, followed quickly by the yowl of their son. When she opened the door, Kagome found two people darkening her doorstep. She smiled warmly at Miroku before turning her attention on the squat, elderly woman. "Mayor Ito! It's a pleasure to see you again."<p>

"Call me Kaede," the mayor grumbled good-naturedly, stepping inside and shrugging off her coat. Kagome, ever the good hostess, took it from her.

"And hello, Miroku," Kagome greeted, tilting her cheek in the aide's direction, who promptly smacked a kiss to it.

"Kagome! You look wonderful this evening."

"Apparently, motherhood is agreeing with me," she confided with a laugh, giving her guests a little twirl to show off her lithe body. "I'm just glad I can see my feet again!"

"I brought dessert," Kaede announced, wandering off in the direction of the kitchen to set her dish down next to the mound of food Kagome had been preparing all day.

"Please make yourself at home!" Kagome called after her, gesturing for Miroku to join her in the foyer. Before she could shut the front door, another group of people made their way to the doorstep—Sango, Kohaku, and their father. "Hello, hello," the young pediatrician welcomed, pressing against the wall to allow the family into her house. "I'll put your coats in the closet," she offered, collecting them. When Kohaku handed his over, the boy blushed furiously. Kagome couldn't help herself and gave him a small wink—which only made him blush harder.

They gathered in the living room, and the government agents both scrutinized Miroku. He, in turn, stood up a lot straighter. "Hello, Mr. Kuwashima," he addressed Sango's father politely.

"Special Agent Kuwashima," the older man corrected with a grunt.

Sango hid her grin at the men's interaction. "Kagome! How's the baby? Where's the ol' ball and chain?"

"The baby's great," Kagome told all of them. "Inuyasha's putting him down for a nap right now; you should see him. He actually does _baby talk_ around our son. It's adorable!"

"Inuyasha? Baby talk?" Miroku echoed, collapsing onto the couch next to Sango. Her father sent him a look, complete with furrowed brow and a stern frown, and the mayor's aide quickly scooted a couple of inches away from the brunette.

The doorbell rang, but it was followed immediately by the guests entering on their own. Kagura and Sesshoumaru walked through the doorway together, looking almost as if they'd coordinated their outfits (Kagura's red high heels and Sesshoumaru's pristine red tie matched perfectly). "Kagome!" Kagura greeted extravagantly, coming forward to kiss the younger woman on both cheeks. "You're stunning. Where on earth did you get that gorgeous dress?"

"Hmm," Kagome hummed, tapping her chin and pretending to think very hard about that. "Why, I believe I bought it at your store."

"Ah, yes, that's where I've seen it before," the boutique owner replied with a wink. "Honestly, though, it looks infinitely more charming on you than it does on the hanger."

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru greeted simply once it appeared Kagura was done; he began to stoop as though he was going to peck his sister-in-law on the cheek. At the last moment, however, he seemed to think better of it and straightened back up. "Your house seems… clean."

Before Kagome could generate a response to that—it sounded like it was meant as a compliment—she was interrupted by the entrance of her husband.

"Okay, _now_ the party can start!" Inuyasha hollered, crashing down the stairs. He breezed into the room, looking bright-eyed and in his element. "Did you tell them, Kagome?"

"Tell us what?" Sango asked pleasantly, looking around at the assembled group. Over the past year, they hadn't exactly grown close, but they had been connected in a way that they could never, ever forget.

Unable to contain his excitement, Inuyasha tapped a drum roll on his legs with his hands. "I," he began dramatically, sending a wink in his wife's direction, "have accepted a promotion to become a detective."

"_Finally_," Kagome tacked on with a fake groan, bumping her shoulder into her husband; he pretended to stumble, although everyone could see that Kagome was tiny compared to her well-built spouse.

"Detective?" Miroku repeated, grinning. "Wow, I thought you might be aiming to be the next chief."

Inuyasha snorted. "Eh, I think Totosai's doing great so far. Sure, he's a nuts, but… the next chief? Yeah, maybe when I'm _forty_."

"I'll divorce him by then," Kagome joked to the guffaws of the small crowd. "There is no way I could stay married to someone that old."

"Careful, girl," Kaede muttered, but her old face was stretched in a smile. "By the way, I hope none of you were expecting a key to the city for your bravery. Honestly, the key doesn't actually _do_ anything."

"We just appreciate your appreciation," Sango told the mayor politely.

"She's a good one, Miroku, you should marry this girl."

"Mayor Ito!" the aide protested, the unflappable man looking, well, flapped.

"He has to have the balls to ask me out first," Sango shot back, winking at Miroku.

There was silence throughout the entire living room as the group tried to gauge just how exactly they were supposed to respond to that. Finally, Kagome couldn't hold it in any longer, and she howled with laughter. To Special Agent Kuwashima's extreme horror, Kagura and Inuyasha soon joined in.

"Ah, well, in that case…" Miroku began, flustered. "Lunch? Tomorrow?"

"I can't," Sango replied lightly. "I already accepted a lunch invitation for tomorrow. With Kagome."

Miroku wilted, defeated.

"But…" the brunette began coyly, glancing down at her hands twisting in her lap. To someone who could read people easily, such as Kagome, she almost appeared nervous. "How about the day after that?"

"Dear god, _yes_. …Please. I mean, yes, please."

"Alright, enough of this," Inuyasha interrupted, looking around at all the faces in his living room. A year ago, he never would have met these people or had a reason to trust and rely on them. He had been happy with Kagome—he would always be more than happy with Kagome, there was no doubt in his mind—but now he had so much more than a partner he barely talked to, a police chief that gave him the creeps, and a handful of fellow cops who respected but avoided him. Now he had a group of people who congratulated him on his promotion, who cared about his son, who gathered just to celebrate and have a good time.

As if sensing Inuyasha's newfound appreciation for life—or for his little slice of it—Kagome reached over and grabbed her husband's hand, intertwining their fingers together. She gave him a smile and leaned into his shoulder, also surveying this group of people who had a chance to become a community, a second family, for them.

"Let's eat!"


End file.
